Love and Babysitting
by Misty Wildfire
Summary: COMPLETED This is an Ash and Misty Romance story, Alternate Universe, slightly, as well as Possible OOC. Ash has a run in with a kid at the grocery store, which just happens to be Misty's daugheter. COMPLETED
1. Can I have your candy?

**NOTE:** I'm re-writing this. Not too many changes, grammar and stuff. I do apologize for leaving it for so long. But here you are, a revised version, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, or anything associated with it. Aurora is my own character that's about it.

AN: Ok I re-wrote this, the last chapter is in the process of being finished. I'm going to re-upload each chapter a couple days apart. So by the time I'm done the last chapter should be ready to go. I've also combined a few chapters as well.

**Warning:** There is mention of rape, not detailed, just mentioned. There's also some mild language here and there. And a small tiny itty bitty bit of f/f mentioning, nothing major so don't go all balistic.

This is a Ash/Misty thing and this story is also incredibly old. More than four years. No I haven't watched any Pokemon in roughly 3 or 4 years as well. Therefor no new pokemon or anything, It's an AU fic as well as slightly OOC for certain characters. Now that I'm done enjoy the incredibly cheesy ass fic.

_Italics: Thoughts_

Ages

Ash: 21

Misty: 22

Aurora: 3

Brock: 28

Suzie: 27

**Love and Babysitting**

**Chapter 1: "Can I have your candy?"**

* * *

"Man, I can't believe I got fired again." Ash said as he unlocked the door to his and Brock's apartment. He grumbled about how he could never keep a job. "Hey Bro- AAHH! I… uh… sorry, I didn't know you'd be here. I'll, uh, come back later." Ash couldn't believe it; he had just walked in on Brock making out with his girlfriend, Suzie. And it looked as if it was going somewhere else, fast.

"Well Ash we didn't expect you to be home so soon." The couple was blushing furiously, embarrassed by the young man's sudden entrance.

"Yeah well..." Ash replied, taking sudden interest in the pale grey carpet

"You got fired again didn't you?" Questioned Suzie.

Ash simply nodded.

"Ash, that's the sixth time this month!" Brock stated.

"I know, I know." He sighed and set his keys on the table next to him.

"Well since you're home early, would you mind going to the store to pick up a couple of things for dinner tonight?" Suzie asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks! Here the list and here's some money." She gave both items to Ash before sitting back down and leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder, starting to doze off.

"She falls asleep quickly." Ash lifted an eyebrow in amazement.

"Yeah..." Brock said in a wistful voice. He just continued to stare at her with a glazed look in his eyes.

* * *

_Maybe one day I'll get someone like that._ Ash thought as he walked out the door to fetch the items on the list.

Misty walked down the cereal isle with her three year old daughter, Aurora, holding her left hand and pushing the shopping cart with her right.

"Aurora, stay here next to the cart while mommy goes to get a box of cereal, ok?" She glanced down at her daughter, letting go of the cart handle.

"Ok mommy!" Aurora nodded, answering in her sweet, innocent voice, making her mother smile. Sometimes she couldn't believe that a horrible mistake would give her such a beautiful child. Ruffling her daughter's hair, she walked to the other side of the isle and bent down to check out the cereal boxes.

Aurora looked around, fidgeting. She spotted a young man at the end of the isle noticing he held a candy bar in his hand and one in his back pocket as well. She smiled, walking after him, as her mother turned around to barely see the young girl wander into the next isle.

"Aurora! Where are you going?" The woman yelled, trying to catch her daughter's attention. Noticing it wasn't going to work, she chased after her daughter, forgetting about the cart and the cereal. Misty stepped over a few new obstacles on the floor-- rolls of paper towels, broken jars of pickles and scattered cans of tuna. She groaned, wondering how her daughter managed to destroy so much in less than a few seconds.

"Man, I hope I don't have to pay for any of this." She growled to herself, still in pursuit of the three-year-old walking disaster.

* * *

"Hmm…Basil leaves? What the heck are those? Oh well..." Ash looked down at his list, resisting the urge to crumple it up. _I don't even know what half this stuff is! _He squinted, trying to read the small print on the small containers in front of him. "Aha! Found it." A tug on his pants stopped him from grabbing the bottle of spice he was after. "What the…?" Looking down he noticed a cute little girl with big green eyes and orange hair. He smiled at the little girl. "Hi, what's your name?"

"Awowa." She spoke, scrunching up her nose before she grinned, her tough task finally accomplished.

"Aurora? Cute name. How old are you?" He said bending down to be at level with her.

"Free." She said holding up three fingers.

"Free?" He chuckled at her innocence.

"Can I have your candy?" She asked.

"Candy? Oh that, uh, well… Where's your mommy? Don't you think you should ask her first?"

"Uh huh," The small child looked around, her smile dropping when she realized she was lost. "but I don know whew see is." Aurora said sadly.

Noticing the girl's eyes starting to water, he held out his hand. "Well come on, I'll help you find her." Instead of taking his hand, Aurora held her arms up indicating she wanted to be held. Ash chuckled a bit before picking her up.

"Excuse me sir, is that your daughter?" A young teenager said as he held a broken jar of pickles.

_Sir? I'm not that old._ "Um, uh, yes it is, is there a problem?"

"Well maybe you should keep an eye on her she just knocked down three display cases."

"She did? I'm sorry, I promise to keep her with me at all times. Would you like any help?"

"No that's all right just be careful." The boy said.

"I will." Ash said. Then as soon as the boy left he looked at the girl in his arms smiling innocently. "You knocked down all that stuff just for a candy bar?" The girl smiled and nodded. Ash shook his head and moved the small child to his shoulders. "Well what does your mommy look like?"

"See has long owange hair like mine, and see has a b, a bu, bwu sirt on."

"Ok."

"Excuse me sir, thank you for finding my daughter for me." Misty said as she walked up to him.

_Why is everyone calling me sir?_

Ash looked up, suddenly forgetting how to breathe. "Oh um…you're welcome… She just wanted the candy in my pocket." He smiled and handed Aurora back.

"Aurora, don't ever do that again! I was so worried."

"Ok mommy."

"Thanks again. My name's Misty." She said while putting out her free hand.

"It was no problem. I'm Ash." He said shaking her hand. They looked into each other's eyes and smiled, still holding hands. Aurora giggled and they jumped a little.

"Mommy?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"Can he come over for dinner?"

Misty smiled at her daughter. "I don't know sweetie, we just met him and you want him over for dinner?" Aurora nodded furiously. She looked at Ash and smiled. "Well I guess if he wants pizza." _I _a_m inviting a man over to dinner, who I just met not 30 seconds ago. I'm insane. You'd think I'd learn but he's definitely too gorgeous to pass up._

"Sure I'd love some. But I have to find this stuff and give it to my roommate and his girlfriend so they can have dinner. Of course I have no idea what half this stuff is." He laughed nervously.

"Here let me see." Misty said as she took the list from him. "Oh I know where all this stuff is. Would you mind holding Aurora for me? So I can get my shopping done and yours."

"Yeah sure, but you don't have to find my stuff." He said.

"Oh no, it's no problem. Let's just say its thanks for finding my daughter."

"More like she found me." He smiled, amused. The redhead smiled back and then handed him Aurora, who giggled in his arms.

"Can I sit on your shoders?" Aurora asked.

"You sure can." Ash chuckled as he did as she requested.

"Yay! Look mommy, I'm tall! Oh can I weaw youw hat too?" She asked with big eyes. Ash nodded, putting his hat on her head and making the girl giggle loudly as it fell over her eyes and part of her nose.

Misty laughed at her daughter. "Come on, I left my cart in the cereal isle. Hopefully no one took it."

* * *

Ash walked Misty to her car with Aurora still in his arms. When they got there, Ash help put Aurora in her car seat, then went to help Misty put her groceries in the trunk.

"Thank you for your help today, I think it would have taken me at least another hour if you hadn't helped me." Misty said to Ash.

"Don't worry, it was no problem. It's easy to watch such a cute kid."

"Yeah, it is. So are you still going to come over for dinner?" She asked.

"Yep, can I get your address though? You know since I have to go back to my place to drop this stuff off." He said lifting up the bag with his groceries.

"Oh yeah sure." She found a pen in the car, writing her address down on a scrap of paper and handing it to him. "Does seven sound ok?" She asked

"Sure does." He replied, helping her get into the car. He then turned to Aurora, waving to her sweetly. "Bye Aurora."

"Bye Ass." She smiled brightly and waved to him.

Ash blushed, prompting a giggle from Misty. "Guess you might want her to call you something different." She said trying to suppress her laughter.

"Yeah, maybe I'll think of something."

"Can I call you daddy?" Aurora asked. Both Ash and Misty went quiet, quite shocked at her question.

"Uh… I guess I'll see you at seven?" Misty questioned, changing the subject quickly. Ash nodded still shocked at the young girl's question before saying a quick goodbye and leaving.

* * *

Ash knocked on the door and shouted, "Just a little warning so I don't walk in on you two again." He waited a few seconds before opening the door and stepping inside. Brock and Suzie were sitting on the couch together watching TV. "Thanks for the warning, but we weren't doing anything." Brock said.

"What took you so long? It should have only taken you a half hour." Suzie said sounding slightly annoyed. The young man had taken four times as long as she had expected.

"Oh um… well you see I was sorta babysitting." He replied.

"What do you mean 'sorta babysitting'?" Brock asked.

"Well…" He explained what happened at the store with Misty, leaving out the part in the parking lot. "And I'm going over there for pizza at seven."

"That's so cute!" Squealed Suzie. "So the little girl still has your hat?"

"Heh, yeah." He shuffled around nervously. "Well, I better get something a little bit nicer on. I don't think she'll want me to come over in a tank and shorts." Ash said as he walked towards his room to change.

"With a body like that, Ash, I'm sure she would." Suzie replied, giggling to herself, causing Ash to blush, Brock glaring at her in turn.

"Hey, I can comment on how someone looks. It's better than your bad habit of asking out every girl you see. It's a wonder I'm still going out with you." She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

"Um, uh…" Brock was left speechless.

* * *

TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Ages:

Aurora: 3

Ash: 21

Misty: 22

Duplica: 21

Todd: 23

**Love and Babysitting:**

**Ch. 2: He is the Pokemon Master**

* * *

"Coming!" Misty yelled, getting up from her comfortable spot on the couch.

"Mommy, mommy can I get it?" Aurora shouted, running in from the other room. Ash smiled as he listened from the outside.

"Sure sweetie."

"Yeah!" Aurora opened the door, screaming with excitement. "Ass! You came! Mommy's making pizza wight now so you can come pway wif me pwease!" She said as she pulled Ash towards her room. The young man glanced at Misty for approval.

"Don't worry, it doesn't take very long to make pizza. Keep her busy." Misty said while smiling._ He's so cute._ She thought while staring at his khaki pants and blue silky shirt. _The clothes make it even harder to **not** stare at him. _She blushed at her thoughts and turned back to making the pizza.

"Ok, so Aurora, what do you want to play?" Ash asked.

"Um, wet's pway howsey!"

"All righty," He got down on his hands and knees. "Climb on little lady." He said in a southern accent.

"Yeah!" She yelled excitedly, while climbing on the couch to get on his back. "Gidyup howsey!" She giggled hysterically, almost falling off a couple times, while Ash crawled around Misty's living room attempting to make horse noises.

Misty smiled. She had never seen Aurora so happy before. She put the pizza in the oven, turned on the timer and walked over to the couch watching the two play.

"Momma come and pway wif us."

"Momma's a little tired sweetie."

"Aw pwease." Aurora said sweetly.

"Well…" Misty smiled and stood up, grabbing Aurora from Ash's back.

"Wee…faster mommy." Aurora squealed while Misty spun her in the air. After a couple minutes there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be." Misty said, placing Aurora back on the floor.

"Misty! Open the door; I forgot my key… and whose car is that parked outside?" The voice continued yelling after the door wasn't opened right away. "Hey! Are you there?"

"Who's that?" Ash asked.

"That is my roommate Duplica."

"Oh…"

Misty went to open the door as Aurora ran past her yelling, "Dupwica! Dupwica!" The redhead opened the door a little more as her daughter jumped into Duplica's arms. "You home eawy. Guess what! Guess what!"

"What?" Duplica asked.

"Mommy's got a new friend, his name's Ass."

"Ass?" Duplica couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"What she means is Ash." Misty said as she took Aurora from her roommate and put the girl on the floor, opening the door more as Duplica walked in.

"Ash this is Duplica. Duplica, Ash." She said introducing them.

"Hi," Duplica said to Ash, but before he could reply, she turned to Misty with a question.

"So how'd you find this handsome thing?" Ash shuffled his feet nervously, a slight blush across his face.

"Let's just say it was my daughters fault, even though I think it was a good thing." Misty said while smiling at Ash, and he smiled back.

"Does this mean I don't have to baby-sit anymore?" Misty groaned and shook her head.

"Does that mean yes?"

"Um I don't know. Ash, would you mind watching Aurora during the week? I can pay you."

"Sure I don't mind. I don't need to be paid though." He told her.

"But…"

"No don't worry about it."

"Ok."

"Yeah I get to pway wit Ass every day now!" Aurora yelled and jumped out of Duplica's arms and into Ash's. "Come on Ass lets go to my woom and pway house." She said grabbing his hand and leading him away. Misty smiled and Duplica chuckled a bit.

"So where'd you find that babe?" Duplica questioned.

"He isn't a babe," Misty said while Duplica had a shocked look on her face. "He's a hunk." Both young women started giggling like schoolgirls. Misty told Duplica how she and Ash met, while cleaning the mess she made while making pizza. She even told Duplica about Aurora calling Ash Daddy.

"What did you tell her?"

"I didn't tell her anything. I just sat there shocked, and then changed the subject."

"What are you going to do if she asks again?"

"I don't know…" She was interrupted by the buzzer before she could finish. "Pizza's done!" Misty yelled, effectively changing the subject. Aurora came running out of the hall screeching.

"Pizza! Ass, sit by me, sit by me!" She yelled as she got in her chair by herself.

"Ok." Ash chuckled, taking a seat next to her.

"Here we are pineapple pizza with pepperoni." Misty put the tray down and sat down next to Duplica.

* * *

"Well, I need to get going. Thanks for dinner." Ash said as he stood by the door.

"Thanks for agreeing to baby-sit. That really helps out a lot." Misty said.

"No problem."

"So I'll see you Monday then?" Misty asked.

"Yup."

"Ok see you then."

"Bye Aurora!" Ash yelled as he started to walk out.

"Bye Ass!"

Misty laughed, "Come Monday I'm sure she'll have a better name for you."

"Yeah, bye." He chuckled while sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Bye." They stood there for a moment staring into each others eyes until Ash turned away

"Tell Duplica I said goodbye." He called out as he walked down the stairs of the apartment building.

As soon as he was out of sight, Misty closed the door, leaning up against it. Sighing, she slid down the smooth wood into a sitting position shaking her head.

"You like him." Duplica said. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Well…"

"Yes you do. You wanna kiss him, you wanna touch him, you wanna…"

"Ok Duplica I don't need you 'duplicating' movies now! People are enough."

"So you admit it!" Duplica said pointing a finger at her.

"I never said that."

"You're denying it then?"

"I never said that either."

"You do know Aurora is all ready attached to him right?"

"Yeah I know, but I just met the guy and I feel like I've known him from somewhere before. He's the first guy I've met who hasn't run away because of Aurora."

"Does he know about it?

"About what?" Duplica gave her that look, she never said the words, but it just put Misty into a deeper sorrow. "Oh that." She replied quietly as she hung her head. "No he doesn't, and I don't want him to know who it was either. With my luck he probably knows the guy."

"All right but he's going to find out sooner or later."

"I know, I know. I just met him, give me a break here."

"Hey I'll be right back…Todd told me to meet him downstairs at nine." Duplica interjected, before helping Misty up and heading to the meeting place.

"Ok…" Misty nodded as she walked into her room to go to sleep.

* * *

"Hey, Todd." Duplica said, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey sweetie, who was the guy that just walked out…he kinda looked familiar."

"That's because he's the Pokemon world's champion trainer."

* * *

_To be continued_


	3. Chapter 3

**Love and Babysitting**

**Ch. 3: "Ass…Can I caw you Satosi?"**

**

* * *

**

"Ok, so you know where everything is?" Misty asked Ash.

"Yep."

"And the numbers in case…?"

"Misty, you can go now; you're going to be late. I've got everything under control." Ash said, practically pushing the nervous woman out the door.

"Ok...Bye Ash, bye Aurora!"

"Bye mommy!" Aurora yelled through a mouth full of cereal, which was almost everywhere but in her bowl.

"Bye Misty!" Ash shouted to her as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

"Ok, Aurora, time for your nap!" Ash called out to the wound up three-year-old.

"But I don't want to!"

"If you take a nap I'll give you a piece of candy when you wake up." He bribed, though she probably didn't need more sugar.

"OK!" Aurora said excitedly. "Can you wead me a stowy fewst?"

"Sure, what do you want to hear?" He asked.

"Umm…can you tell me one you've heawd befoe?"

"Sure. Have you ever heard of Pokemon World?"

"Yeah! Mommy tode me see used to live der."

_Oh no! Ok wait, she didn't say anything yesterday, so maybe she doesn't know._

"When did she move away?"

"Umm," Aurora had a very serious look on her face trying to remember. "When see was fiteen see said dat see left befoe da Pokemon eague."

_Thank God._ Ash thought.

"See used to be da, da…Cowiwean im eader."

"Oh ok, then lets start off with the Pokemon league…I'll tell you about a very special battle."

* * *

_Satoshi stood in the ring. He was down to his last Pokemon, but he had only used it once in a battle. His opponent's Rhydon had all ready seriously injured his most faithful Pokemon, Pikachu. Holding the ball close to his chest, he looked down at it. 'Please be careful' he thought. **"Go Scyther!"**_

_Shigeru stood at the other side smirking. He had this made; he still had two of his strongest Pokemon left. Arcanine and Nidoqueen. And to think four of his weakest ones took out Satoshi's five strong ones. 'Strong…? Pathetic, I'd say. He can't do anything to me. His strongest one is all ready out. This match is mine.' _

_Shigeru kissed his Pokeball, yelling, **"You're going down, loser! Go Nidoqueen!"**_

_**"Scyther, quick attack!"**_

_**"Nidoqueen, use your horn drill!"**_

_**"Scyther, double edge and razor leaf!"**_

_**"Nidoqueen, earthquake!"**_

_**"Seismic toss!" **Satoshi yelled. Amazingly enough Scyther lifted Nidoqueen into the air, and as they say,' the bigger they are, the harder they fall', Nidoqueen fainted on impact._

_**"Grr…Nice one Satoshi, but I have the advantage now! Go Arcanine!"**_

_**"Crap…Scyther give it your all, I know you can do it!"**_

_**"Scyther Sci Scyther (All right, mutt show me what you've got!)"**_

_**"Arca Arcanine! (You're dead!)"**_

_**"Arcanine, finish it of quickly! Fire spin!"**_

_**"Scyther, make a whirlwind."** Scyther's attack canceled out Arcanine's, but it had taken a lot of its energy._

_**"Tackle It, Arcanine!"**_

_**"Scyther, evade!"**_

_Scyther couldn't move. He'd only known this boy for a short while, but inside Scyther knew that he had what it took._

_**"SCYTHER! (I must beat him!)"**_

_**"What?"** Shigeru yelled and Arcanine stopped in its tracks, paralyzed with awe. The entire stadium was silent and the announcer was speechless. **"Its, its…"** Gary stuttered._

_**"Evolving!"** Ash shouted._

_**"But how?"** Gary yelled angrily before recomposing himself. **"Grr…just because it evolved without a metal coat means nothing! You're still going to lose! Arcanine, fire spin and fire blast!"**_

_**"Uh um…Scizor…Agility and than use solar beam!"**_

_Arcanine launched his fire spin attack, just missing Scizor as both pokemon fired their second attacks at the same time, enveloping the entire stadium in black smoke._

_(5 min later)_

_**"Pidgeot go!"** A boy yelled from the stands. **"Blow away the smoke!"** The Pidgeot did as it was told, clearing the arena. _

_The crowd gasped-- Both Pokemon were still standing, but just barely. The tension between the two trainers could be felt even from the stands. Both Pokemon started wavering, but Arcanine finally collapsed as Shigeru hung his head and called it back._

_**"Nice job Satoshi…"** He said as he sulked his way out of the stadium._

_Satoshi didn't even acknowledge his rival's disappearance as he ran into the arena to hug Scizor. **"Thank you my friend…" **He said, pulling out a pokeball to call it back. The stadium cheered loudly, and after a three hour ceremony, he was named Pokemon Master._

* * *

"What happened after dat?" Aurora asked sleepily.

"He stayed for a while, and then moved to Japan... But every year, he goes back to defend his title."

"Wow…what does he do wit his Pokemon?"

"He gives them to a Professor, and they train themselves while he's away."

"Wow."

"Goodnight Aurora."

"Night Ass…"

Ash smiled and quietly walked towards the door.

"Ass?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I caw you Satosi?"

"If you want to." Ash said quietly and smiled as he shut the door.

* * *

Misty walked in to find Ash asleep on the couch. Giggling quietly to herself, she set her stuff down and walked over to the sleeping form. She sat down near his head, being careful not to move him much. She brushed a piece of his hair away from his face with her hand, smiling. '_He's so handsome, I've never felt this way about anyone before…I know we just met, but I swear I've seen him before. He is so much different than…'_

* * *

_He had invited me over for dinner, just a friendly thing, he said. They ate dinner, taking a little time to stay and talk after. He had just broken up with his girlfriend. He never mentioned her name, only showed me pictures. Her hair was red and long, cascading over her pale skin. Her blue eyes, almost sapphire in color, shone in stark contrast to her light complexion. I had a feeling he only invited me it to make her jealous, but I was lonely, and as long as I was with someone it didn't matter. Weeks went by and my trust in him grew, but at the same time, I couldn't go anywhere without the feeling of being watched. But that one night...'_

Misty's thoughts were interrupted as Ash started to stir. The young man jumped up, forgetting where he was, but hit something, rather someone, on his way down.

"Oww…I didn't think you'd have such a hard head." Misty said from the floor as she held her left eye in pain.

"Huh?…Oh! Geez, I'm so sorry Misty. I didn't know you were here, so when I woke up, you scared me… I kinda forgot where I was anyway." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Are you ok?"

"Um yeah, I think so; just a little light-headed is all." She removed her hand form her eye before she stood up, noticing Ash was staring at her.

"What?"

"Um… I gave you a black eye…"

"What?"

"Guess my head is a little harder than we both thought."

"Man…" Ash got up and went to the freezer, pulling out an ice pack he had seen in there earlier.

"Here, put this on your eye for about 15 min." He said as he lightly placed the ice pack over her eye.

Misty flinched slightly at the coldness, noticing how close he had gotten. She reached her hand up to hold the ice pack herself, but instead her hand landed on his. She blushed and smiled slightly, but didn't move her hand away. Misty could feel her heart beat faster and her breath became heavy. Ash removed the ice pack from her eye after a minute, stroking her cheek with his finger. They stared into each other's eyes as they leaned forward, stopping only millimeters apart. As their lips brushed against each other, they were interrupted by a shout from outside.

"MISTY! I forgot my key again!"

The couple both blushed furiously as they pulled away, Misty getting up to answer the door. Noticing she forgot her ice pack, she walked back to Ash to grab it before returning to the door. She could hear Duplica yelling for her to hurry up from the other side. Misty rolled her eyes, opening the door just enough for her head to poke out of it. Glaring at her roommate, she quietly growled.

"You know, you have very bad timing."

"What are you talking about? And what happened to your eye?"

"I'll tell you after HE leaves."

"He?…ooohhh HE, got it." Misty let Duplica in, slamming the door behind her. She glared at Duplica's back until she left to the kitchen. The redhead sat down next to Ash on the couch, noticing something in the young man's hand.

"Ash, why did you get more ice?" Misty asked him.

"Well, when you got up to answer the door, I touched my forehead… and well, it seems you've got a bit of a hard head as well." Ash grinned widely as Misty blushed.

"Umm…guys, just out of curiosity, what happened?" As soon as Duplica asked, Ash and Misty started to laugh as the woman stared at them strangely. Their laughter died down to chuckles a couple of minutes later.

"You'll have to ask Misty about it, I was asleep." Misty blushed.

"Well, I came home and saw Ash asleep on the couch, so I walked over to… uh… wake him up. I sat down to shake him a little… and I guess I startled him, cuz the next thing I knew, I was on the floor with a black eye."

"So then why did you say…"

"I didn't say anything to you!" Misty growled.

"Right…"

"Ok, well, I better get going. See you tomorrow!" Ash said, picking himself up off the couch.

"Thanks again." Misty said.

"No prob." Ash replied, walking out the door.

Duplica waited a couple of seconds before asking, "Ok, so what _really_ happened?"

"I all ready told you."

"What you told me was only the tip of the iceberg. I want the whole story."

"All right… when I got home, he was asleep…"

"So you thought 'oh who would know?'"

"Duplica, I'm telling the story here, so shut up."

"Geez, why so edgy?"

"You'll know when I'm done. Anyway, I needed to wake him up, so I sat down next to his head. He looked so cute sleeping there, like a baby. As I moved a piece of his hair out of the way, I swore I'd seen him somewhere… but he jumped up before I could pinpoint where."

"Man, I love coming home to this, just like a drama or something… But that still doesn't explain why you were mad at me."

"Were mad? I still am."

"Why?"

"Because after we hit heads, Ash went to get ice for me and… well, one thing led to another. I felt his lips brush against mine and thought I had died and gone to heaven, but then SOMEONE had to go and forget her key!"

"Ohhh, that's why! Hehe, sorry." Duplica said sheepishly.

"Whatever…I need to wake up Aurora."

* * *

_To be continued_


	4. Chapter 4

**Love and Babysitting**

**Ch. 4: "Dupica how come you laughin so hard?" – Aurora**

**

* * *

**

Weeks went by; Ash watched Aurora until Misty came home. Sometimes he would leave right away, other times he'd stay for dinner. He even met Todd, Duplica's boyfriend a few times.

* * *

Ash was sitting on the couch watching T.V with Aurora asleep in his arms. Like usual Misty sat at the counter staring at him, with Duplica smirking, sitting a couple chairs away quietly laughing about the whole thing. Suddenly the phone rang interrupting Misty's train of thought.

"Hello…oh, hi…what? Why…but who else am I…ug fine!" She slammed down the phone, sighed and put her head down on the counter.

"Who was that?" Duplica asked.

"That was that A-hole Gary!"

"Gary?" Ash said. C_ould it be?_

"Yeah, he was supposed to be my date to my party at work, but he said he had better things to do. Now what am I going to do?"

Duplica started laughing really hard. She laughed so hard that she fell of the chair, only to continue her laughter. Misty was about to ask what her deal was when a knock sounded from the front door.

"Come in Todd!" Misty yelled.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked walking in the door.

"You're the only one who comes over at this time. Can you take care of your girlfriend here? I think she has finally lost it."

"What do you mean finally, she lost a long time ago." Todd smiled as he said this.

"OWWW!" Earning a kick in the shin from the still laughing Duplica, this caused her to laugh even harder because he was hopping around on one foot.

"Um Duplica, why are you laughing?" Ash asked.

"Be…be…because...it hurts…hurts…can't…breathe…they…her…him…call…party…to go…her…ahaha."

"Uhhh…did anyone get that?"

"No." Ash and Misty said.

Aurora started to stir in Ash's arms. Ash smiled and looked down at her. "Hey cutie, you awake?"

"No…" she mumbled. "Who laghin?"

"Duplica."

"Why?"

"We don't know."

"Can I go see?" Aurora asked.

"Sure." Ash let Aurora out of his arms and she walked over to Duplica and looked down at her curiously.

"Dupica, how come you laughin so hard?" Duplica just started laughing harder. Wanting to join in on the fun, Aurora jumped on top of the copy-cat.

"Ooff…cough owy." At that point everyone started laughing.

* * *

"Ok now that we got that out of our systems, why did you start laughing?" Misty asked. 

"Well I have a couple reasons, one, which I wont tell, two because you do have someone to take to the party."

"Who?"

"Who else but him." Duplica looked towards Aurora's bedroom where Ash was putting

her to bed.

"What? I can't take him!" She whispered loudly.

"And why not? Give me one good reason for you to not take him."

"Well, because um I haven't known him for that long." Misty stuttered.

"Well that didn't stop you from inviting him to dinner and letting him baby-sit the first day you met him."

"Well…I…uh..."

"Exactly. So Todd and I will leave for our date tonight and give you two some peace and quiet to talk about it."

"But you can't leave me here! I don't know what to say to him!"

"You can do it. Trust me it'll just all flow out."

"Do you know how long it's been since I asked someone out!"

"No, but why not try now. Bye Misty. See you later. I'll be expecting a call to tell me how it went." With that Duplica grabbed her keys, purse, and Todd and walked out the door.

"Bye Misty!" Todd said before the door shut.

"Bye…" Misty squeaked out.

"Ok well, Aurora's asleep now so I better get going." Ash said coming form the hallway.

"Um…uhh…could you uh stay a bit longer? I have a favor to ask you." Misty said nervously.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, you see…remember earlier when Gary called."

"Yeah…"

"Well I need someone to go with me to that party and so I was wondering…you know…if you could well…"

"Go with you?"

"Yeah."

"Sure I'd love to."

"Really?"

"Yeah, just tell me when, where and what I have to wear and I'll go."

"Thank you so much!" Misty yelled as she ran and hugged him. "You don't know how much this means to me!"

_I don't care as long as we stay like this…eep! I am not falling for her…oh wait to late…I all ready did…_ Ash thought letting go of the hug and replying with, "You're welcome, if you want I can have my roommate watch Aurora for you. Why don't you come over for dinner on Friday and you can meet him and his girlfriend."

"That'd be great. Thank you."

"Well I have to get going now…here's my number and my address, see ya." Ash said as he walked out the door.

"Bye…" When Ash shut the door Misty waited a couple seconds before she shouted,

"OH MY GOD! I can't believe I just did that!" She yelled.

"Mommy…you too loud…" Aurora said sleepily as she came from her room.

"Sorry sweetie, go back to bed now."

Misty watched her daughter walk back to her room. When she was out of site Misty did a little dance around the room and quietly yelled, "I have to call Duplica!" She ran to the phone and dialed Duplica's cell phone number. It rang and rang but no one answered. "I'll just leave a message then."

* * *

'_Duplica you were right! He said he'd go with me! And better yet he invited me over for dinner on Friday. And I need you to baby-sit that night, but anyway, I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT! I should kill you for making me do it. Ok I have to go I think I just woke up my daughter again…bye!'_

The people in the restaurant stared at Duplica. "I think next time I'll turn it down…"

"Maybe you should go check it where there aren't so many people." Todd said.

"Oh you mean like your house." Duplica said off handedly.

"Or in the bedroom…"

"TODD!" Duplica smacked him on the head and blushed, but then lowered her voice.

"Why would we need to go all the way to the bedroom?" Not expecting the answer Todd let out a little squeak.

* * *

_To be continued_


	5. Chapter 5

**Love and Babysitting  
Ch .5: "I have to believe that I am falling for the girl I met in the grocery store."**

**-Ash**

**

* * *

**

Misty walked into the apartment buildings and walked up to the third floor. She stood in front of the door for about five minutes making sure she was ready.

knock knock

"Coming!" Yelled someone from behind the door.

"Hey Misty."

"Hi."

"Come on in, dinner isn't ready yet, so you can have more time to meet my roommates."

"OK." Misty said walking in.

"They're in the living room. I have to finish dinner." Ash pointed her to the living room and then walked back in to the kitchen.

Misty walked into the living room curious as to who his roommates were. When she walked in she saw two very familiar people. "Brock, Suzie?"

"Misty?" Brock said shocked.

"What are you doing here?" Suzie pointed at her Misty in shock.

"Ash wanted me to meet well…his roommates before they watched my daughter. But it looks like I all ready know them." Misty explained. "Though I thought I'd never see the day when Brock got himself a steady girlfriend." She laughed.

"Yeah and I was the poor fool to fall for him." Suzie said dramatically while trying to suppress a giggle.

"Hey!"

Suzie rolled her eyes and kissed Brock. "You should know by now that I'm just kidding."

Brock blushed then asked, "So when did you come here? I mean when did you leave the Pokemon World?"

"About a month before the Pokemon league championship started."

"So you don't know." Suzie stated.

Misty gave a confused look. "Know what?"

"Um…never mind." Suzie said.

At that moment Ash decided to walk in. "Dinner's ready."

"Great! I'm starving!" Brock said changing the subject quickly.

* * *

"Misty, who's taking care of the gym?" Suzie asked while taking a bite of steak.

"My sisters. I got fed up with the teasing and harassment so I left."

"You were a gym leader?" Ash said faking shock and surprise.

"Yeah, but I rarely fought anyone."

_It couldn't have been her. Could it?_ Ash thought to himself. "How come you never told me you were a gym leader?"

"You never asked."

"I guess that is true. When was your last battle?"

"Probably the best one. I remember his name. It was Satoshi." Brock, Suzie, and Ash all tensed up at the same time, with it going unnoticed by Misty. "My sisters were just going to give him the badge without a battle. I got angry and decided to battle him. He had a really cute Pikachu. I thought he was like the rest of the trainers I battled. Small minded, arrogant, and dense, only using Pokemon for his needs. But after the first battle I noticed he was different. He was still a little arrogant and definitely dense." Ash blushed at her comment, but she still did not notice. "But his Pokemon were more than battling tools. They were his friends, they trusted him and they would do anything for him. From then on I knew he could do it. He kind of inspired me too. I stopped working at the gym that day and decided to spend more time with my Pokemon. I heard he really did become Pokemon Master." Misty took a drink of her milk and then asked, "Were you ever in the Pokemon world Ash?"

Ash laughed nervously. "Yeah I was."

"How far did you get?"

"Um…pretty far."

"How far is far exactly?" Misty said getting annoyed.

"Well, um…Orange League champ, third in Johto and Pokemon Master." He said the last part in almost a whisper.

"What was the last one?"

Ash was getting very nervous. He opened his mouth to say something when the phone rang.  
_  
Thank you!_

Suzie got up to answer the phone. "Hello? Oh…uh huh…hold on. Misty its Duplica."

"I wonder what she wants." Misty got up and answered the phone. "Hey. Who…who is that?" Her voice turned angry. "Tell her 'Satoshi' will call back!" Ash stiffened 'Crap I'm a dead man.' She calmly hung up the phone and walked to her seat and sat down across from Ash. She smiled at him.

"Um…Brock, sweetie. Can you help me in my room? I need to um, move something." Suzie said while dragging Brock with her.

"But I'm still hungry! And why are we going to your room?"

Suzie rolled her eyes. "Do you remember what happened every time Misty got that calm after being angry?"

Brock thought for a moment and then winced. "Man I sure hope he has good medical insurance. I feel sorry for him."

"You'll feel sorry for yourself if you don't follow me." Suzie said as she was in the doorway of her room. Brock had stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Huh?"

Suzie smiled and walked into her room saying, "It does get a little lonely in here sometimes."

"Oh…" Brock then immediately ran to her room.

* * *

"So Ash…or should I say Satoshi." She said sweetly. Ash started getting really nervous. "Could you not trust me or something? I thought you were different from every guy. I guess you aren't. And to think you were the first guy I trusted in four years." She started walking towards the door. _I can't believe this. I can't believe I started falling for him. How could I even have had a chance with him? I never should have let my guard down._ Tears formed in her eyes.

"Misty, wait!" Ash said while getting up and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Please let me explain." She stopped, but did not turn around. She wanted to walk away, but she couldn't. "Listen I only didn't tell you because I was afraid. I was trying to protect you and your daughter. Someone could have found out and reporters would be everywhere. Crowding your home, being anywhere you were. It'd be all over the papers. I'm really sorry for not telling you. If you don't want to speak to me again I understand." He said solemnly.

Misty's smiled through her tears. _I can't believe I said those things to him. He's the sweetest guy ever!_ She finally turned around much to Ash's relief, but he was afraid because of the tears in her eyes. He started getting worried, until he noticed the small smile on her face.

"I'm so sorry." She said as the tears fell freely from her face. Ash was just about to tell her she didn't need to be when she jumped into his arms and hugged him tight. He awkwardly put his arms around her with a small blush on his face, Misty pulled away, but she was still in his arms. She looked up at him her tears still there. Ash smiled down at her and gently whipped away her tears.

"It's all right, Misty. It was my fault I didn't tell you."

"But…"

"No don't say but, you had the right to be angry."

"Ash…" He put a finger to her lips. He bent down slightly, making what little gap there was between them even smaller. He closed his eyes as he tilted his head slightly. Misty blushed as she too, closed her eyes. She could have sworn she was going to have a heart attack; her heart was beating so quickly. She could feel his warm breath on her lips.

CRASH

They both pulled away quickly, blushing.

"I'm sorry Suzie! I told you I was still hungry!"

Ash and Misty looked at each other as if they didn't want to know what happened.

Brock came out with his hair all ruffled and his shirt tangled bit. He looked up and blushed. He scratched the back of his head. "Um...ehehe…we were uh just doing something and uh…my stomach growled. So she got mad and locked me out."

"Thanks for that information Brock." Ash said.

"You're welcome!" Brock then went back to Suzie's room begging for her forgiveness.

"Well that was interesting." Misty said.

An uncomfortable silence followed for several minutes. Misty looked at her watch and gasped. "I'm late! I told Duplica I'd be home by 10! And it's almost 11:30! I'm sorry Ash!"

"You say that too much Misty."

She just smiled and then hugged him. "Thanks for tonight." She kissed his cheek lightly and then left.

Ash put his hand up to his cheek and blushed. "I have to believe that I am falling for the girl I met in the grocery store."

* * *

And yes I know this part was totally cheezy, and Misty's reaction was a bit... dumb lol but oh well! XD TBC

And Thanks to those who've reviewed recently, it's been a while since I've gotten any reviews and I greatly appreciate them, forgot how nice it was to read them :) You'll get the next chapter tomorrow


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer is in the first chapter! shoo**

**Love and Babysitting: Chapter 6**

**"Are you gunna kiss mommy tonight?" –Aurora**

* * *

It was the day of the party and Ash went to pick Misty up. When he knocked on her door Aurora answered it. "Mommy's gettin' weady. I go tell her you here." 

"Thanks sweetie." Ash said as he sat down on the couch waiting. When Aurora came running back out she jumped on his lap and hugged him.

"I missed you Ass." Ash smiled down at her and ruffled her hair. "Hey!" She squealed.

Ash grinned evilly and looked at Aurora. "I think the tickle monster has decided to play today!" Ash said as he went to tickle Aurora.

She squealed and ran away giggling. Ash went after her and soon caught up with her; he picked her up and set her on the couch tickling her. "Ah! Hehehehe stop! Ehehehe no…ehehe" Despite Aurora's request Ash continued his assault. After a couple more minutes he stopped.

"The tickle monster is pooped out now." Ash said as he sat down next to her. Aurora nodded breathlessly and smiled. She got up and sat in his lap snuggling up to him.

"Ass?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you gunna kiss mommy tonight?"

Ash blushed and stuttered slightly. "I…um…why do you ask that?"

"Cuz mommy told me that see wanted you too."

Ash blushed even more. "Maybe…maybe." Content with his answer, not really knowing what he meant though, Aurora snuggled even more into Ash and fell asleep.

* * *

Ash had been pondering the name of the hotel ever since Suzie had made a big deal about it.

* * *

"Hey Misty," Suzie said as they were cleaning up. "What's the name of the hotel the party's held at?" 

"Um it's Primo Bacio. I don't know exactly what it means because…it's…Italian…"

Misty had a questioning look as she slowed down her words as she watched Suzie because as soon as she said the hotel name Suzie was clutching her sides laughing.

"What does it mean?" Ash said as he walked into the kitchen. Misty jumped slightly and turned to Ash.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"When you said the hotel name."

"It means…it means…" She could barely hold in her laughter as she told Misty. Misty blushed three shades of red and turned around quickly washing the dishes.

"Um…can you tell me now?" Ash said as he scratched the back of his head.

"NO!" Misty yelled before Suzie had a chance to say it. Ash sweat dropped and walked away.

* * *

_Hmm…I wonder what it meant that she was so embarrassed about…_ His mind stopped working as he looked up. 

Standing in her hallway door was a very nervous looking Misty. Her hair was up in a French twist with two strands hanging down in front of her face. The dress was dark blue, silk, spaghetti-strapped that went all the way down to the ankles with a slit on the right side that went slightly above the knee. She had a silver-chained necklace with a silver Vaporeon charm on it. Her earrings matched the necklace. Her make-up was light, but there was just enough to bring out her eyes and make her look more radiant.

During Ash's speechlessness Aurora woke up and saw her Mom. "Mommy!" She ran to her and hugged her legs. "You look very pweatty." Aurora said while smiling.

Misty smiled and bent down to hug her daughter. While hugging Aurora whispered into her ear. "Mommy, you might get what you wanted. And then maybe I can have a daddy and you and Ass can be just like Todd and Dupica!" She said excitedly.

* * *

Misty walked in the door quietly and looked over to see Todd and Duplica sleeping on the couch the TV was on but by the look of what was on they probably weren't watching it. She noticed the smiles on their faces. They seemed more…happy. '_I wonder what happened.' _Misty thought to herself. Before waking the two she went to Aurora's bedroom to make sure she was sleeping. 

She came back stopping in front of the two when something caught her eye. She gasped. She grinned and decided to leave them there. Before she went to bed she left a little note on the coffee table. On it was one word.

_Congratulations._

Misty looked at Duplica again and smiled to herself, yet frowning on the inside. She glanced at the ring. '_She deserves it. I never thought she would be married before me…Oi! Stop it Misty be happy for her! Worry about yourself later!'_ Misty shook her head and walked to her room.

* * *

Misty blushed at her daughter's words and spoke. "One day sweetie, one day." She spoke wistfully and her eyes were a little watery. She stood back up quickly smiling and making it like nothing was wrong. Ash walked over to her and finally spoke up. 

"You…you look beautiful." It took all he had not to croak when he spoke. '_What's wrong with you Ketchum? You've never been this nervous! Not even at the Finals!'_

'_You know what's wrong.' _Another voice said.

'_Oh shut up! Rule number one of the work world: Never have intimate relations with your employer or co-workers!' _He said to the voice.

'_Whoops look like you broke that rule.'_

Misty looked at him a bit strangely trying to figure out what was going on in his head as she noticed his confused yet happy face. Shaking her head not really wanting to know, she spoke. "Thank you." She said more quietly then expected.

They stood there nervously for a couple seconds when Ash broke the silence. "Oh, Brock and Suzie should be here soon." As soon as soon as the words left his mouth the doorbell rang.

Aurora ran to the door letting the two in. Misty told them where everything was, she was about to give them the 'If there's an emergency' and 'don't let her…' and 'put her to bed at...' speech, but Ash interrupted.

"Shall we go, Misty." Ash said offering his arm.

Misty smiled forgetting her speech and said, "We shall." Slipping her arm through his, they said their good byes and walked out the door. Suzie and Brock waited a couple seconds before Brock spoke. "Shall we expect a surprise when they come back?" He asked.

"I believe so." Suzie said as she went to play 'House' with Aurora.

Ash and Misty never really talked on their way to the hotel. Once they got there a lady with a nametag that read 'Vivian' handed them two nametags. Misty and Ash wrote their names on it and pinned it to what they were wearing.

"Wow," Ash exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever known a work party to look this fancy." He looked around at all the decorations. There were the usual flowers everywhere, nice tables, and there was even an ice sculpture of a swan.

"Yeah, the boss really likes these fancy things. Come one let's dance." Misty said as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the dance floor. After about four songs the two decided to rest.

"Hey I'll be back I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?" Ash asked her as he got up.

Misty smiled. "Water will be fine. Thank you."

"No problem." He said as he walked away.

He came back a couple minutes later. He heard arguing and recognized one of the voices as Misty's. The other one belonged to a man. It sounded familiar. He got closer and stopped in shock at the man who was there as Misty yelled.

"I though you had 'better things' to do Gary!"

_Shigeru…it really is him._

"I did! Cynthia here is a lot better than you are!" Gary yelled back smirking as he pointed to a blonde girl behind him. Cynthia as he called her also smirked at Misty almost as if she were taunting her. Misty went red in anger.

Ash, quickly noticing where this would go, set down the drinks. He walked up next to Misty, his back to Gary. He smiled at her and she gave him a questioning look. He then turned around to face Gary. "Hey." He said as if he said nonchalantly.

"Who the hel…Ash! What the hell are you doing here?" Gary yelled shocked.

"I came here with Misty." Ash stated simply.

"You came here with that bitch?" Gary laughed and continued. "Are you going to get an easy lay like James did?" He laughed even more.

Misty gasped as tears came to her eyes. She quickly brushed them away. Ash looked over at her and could see the pain in her eyes. _James…James from Team Rocket James? How…this'll have to wait 'till later._ He thought as he turned his attention back to Gary.

"First off, she is not a bitch. She is Misty. Second, I came here with her, not because she asked, but because I wanted to." Ash said his voice cold and sincere.

"Yeah whatever Ash. If you really did come here to be with that slut because YOU wanted to and not her tempting you then prove it." Gary said smirking, as Ash grew angrier.

At this point Misty could do nothing to keep her tears. With one final look at them her tears ran freely as she sprinted out of the building and out to a balcony. Before going after her Ash turned once again to face Gary.

Gary flinched slightly looking at Ash's eyes. Anger, confusion, hate, and a look of death were evident in his eyes. When Ash spoke it made him jump slightly noticing the hardening of it and the edge it had. "One day Gary, one day you'll get all that is coming to you. 'What comes around goes around.'" He stated.

"Whatever Ketchum. Have fun in bed." Gary said as he started walking away.

Ash growled and grabbed Gary by the shoulder and turned him around. "Like I said what comes around" He punched Gary in the mouth, knocking him to the ground. "Goes around." Ash watched him carefully.

"Aw shit!" He yelled. Gary quickly got back up wiping the blood away from his mouth.

"That's one of the stupidest things you've ever done. I may have lost to you in the Pokemon League, but this is my home." Before Gary could go on a man with two strong looking guys next to him came walking up. Gary grabbed Ash's collar and whispered into his ear. "You better watch it Ketchum. Her child's father works for me. I'm sure he wouldn't mind her in bed again." Gary roughly let go of his collar and walked away before Ash had time to react. Taking one last glare at Gary's retreating figure he ran to where Misty had run.

He ran out to the balcony, looking around he noticed Misty's figure in the dark. She was shaking, from cold or tears, maybe both he couldn't tell. He slowly walked over to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

She looked up into his warm brown eyes as the tears flew freely down her face. "I...I'm s…sorry…you had…you had to hear all of that." She barely managed to get out before she collapsed into his arms sobbing harder then before.

Ash sat down on the bench that was out there and slowly started rocking her back and forth stroking her hair as if it would calm her down. Slowly but surely Misty's sobs became whimpers. Ash hugged her tight as she put her arms around his neck trying to find more comfort. She took a deep shaky breath and let it out slowly. Looking up into his eyes she smiled and more tears ran down her face, but they weren't sad tears, they were tears of happiness. It had been so long since she had met someone like him.

He cared.

She could see it in his eyes and she could sense it.

And that was all that mattered to her.

He didn't bombard questions at her he just let her get it all out not caring what the situation was. She could tell he was hurting because he didn't know what to say to her, for he did not know exactly what happened and to find out in a span of 5 minutes was pretty tough. After a long silence washed over them Ash put a finger under her chin and lifted it up looking into her eyes. He smiled and spoke softly. "Are you alright?"

Misty nodded. "Th…thank you." She croaked out. She lent in to him a bit more feeling his warmth and wanting more of it.

He knew she needed comforting and he knew what she wanted, but he seemed hesitant at first. _How do I know if this is what she really wants or if she's just looking for comfort?_ He shook away his thoughts, as he looked, if possible, even deeper into her eyes. Giving in he slowly bent down and kissed her lips softly.

When he looked back at her he smiled, seeing the small smile slowly appear on her lips. She still had her eyes closed and seemed to be savoring the moment. Without saying anything Misty slowly rested her head on Ash's chest and fell asleep.

Ash smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. His smile slowly turned into a frown.

_What am I going to do? I just made things worse for her without even knowing. I have to keep her safe. Misty and Aurora. If I had only not gone to the store that day, she'd be perfectly fine with her daughter. _

_Yes, but you did go to the store and you did meet her **and** you fell in love with her. _

_You again? Won't you ever go away?_

_Nope, not a chance. Besides who would tell you that you're a stupid jack-ass for saying her life would have been better off. What do you think would have happened to her tonight if you didn't go with her?_

Ash sighed, knowing the voice was right. _I guess we should go now…no point in staying. _

Ash gently shook Misty awake. "Hey, wake up sleepyhead." He said as he smiled softly at her tired face.

"Hmm…oh! How long have I been asleep?" Misty said worryingly.

Ash chuckled. "Not long. I think we should go now, I don't think your boss will be upset if we leave early."

Misty just nodded staring into his eyes. They slowly got up and headed out. Ash walked nervously beside her. He had a very important question to ask her, but because of what happened he felt it would be wrong.

Misty, noticing his nervousness, asked, "Ash? Are you ok?"

He nodded. "There's something I need to know Misty. I know you might not want to tell me now, but for your safety and your daughter's I need to know what happened between you and James, and this whole thing with Gary."

Misty hung her head; her eyes started to water. "I…I don't think…I'm ready or stable enough to tell you right now." She said softly. "I'm sorry." The tears had silently slid down her face as she continued to stare at the ground in front of her.

"Don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry." He said lifting up her chin and whipping away her tears. "Just, just tell me when you're ready ok?"

Misty nodded and suddenly threw her arms around him. She sobbed into his shirt letting everything out. Ash hugged her tight and stood there rocking her until she finally calmed down. When she did they walked out and down to the car. They headed back to Misty's house, while in the car they talked about what they should do about Gary and James.

When they entered Misty's house Brock and Suzie were on the couch watching a movie. Well at least Suzie was watching it, Brock was sleeping.

"We're going to have to move." Ash said as soon as he walked in.

"Why?" Suzie asked confused.

"Because we are all in danger, especially Misty."

"How?" Brock said awakening all of a sudden.

"I had a little run in with Gary tonight. He threatened us and the best thing to do is move." Misty replied.

"To where?" Suzie asked yet again.

"I was thinking back to the Pokemon World. My house is big enough, my mom is the only one there." Ash replied.

"You had time to think about this didn't you?" Brock said. Without waiting for an answer he asked, "When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible."

"We need to tell Todd, Duplica and Aurora." Misty said suddenly.

"Do you think Todd and Duplica will want to go?" Ash asked her.

"Yep, because they wanted to get married in the Pokemon World anyway."

"Good…well I think we should stay here for the night." Ash said.

"Uh…I don't think I have enough beds. Unless…" Misty turned red and stuttered slightly.

"Well…uh… you can sleep in my room…the bed's big enough." She paused slightly as the blush on her face grew and then continued. "Suzie and Brock, you can have the couch since it does turn into a bed and Todd and Duplica have their own room."

They thanked her as she helped them get the bed ready and then Ash and Misty went to her room. They were sitting on the bed as Ash pulled her to him from behind. Leaning his head on her shoulder as Misty put her hand up to his cheek and caressed it lightly. They sat there in silence for a while both thinking about what lay ahead.

"Ash." Misty said quietly.

"Hmm..?"

"I think…I think I'm ready to tell you now." She said her voice wavering.

Ash lifted his head and turned her around so he could look into her eyes. "Are you sure?" He asked her as he wiped a lone tear from her face.

She nodded and started to tell him. She had stopped many times to gather herself for her tears would overwhelm her causing her to break off at strange spots. Ash didn't rush her. He sat there and held her close comforting her as she cried and retold him the story.

"James had invited me over for dinner. Just a friendly thing he said. We ate dinner and talked afterwards. He had just broken up with his girlfriend. I never found out her name I just saw pictures of her, her hair was red and long. She had pale skin and blue eyes almost like a sapphire blue. I had a feeling he only did it to make her jealous, but I was lonely and as long as I was with someone it didn't matter. Weeks went by and I started to trust him more. But at the same time I couldn't go anywhere without the feeling of being watched. One night though we were at a party…."

* * *

I walked in with James, a man, Gary I found out later, was introduced to me. He seemed nice. They were talking to each other secretly. 

"Hey Misty come over here and have a drink with me." James yelled.

"All right." I said back to him. When I walked over I ignored the evil smiles on Gary's and James' faces and sat down next to him. As I drank everything slowly started to get fuzzy.

"Misty are you ok?" James asked with fake concern.

"No not…" And then I fainted. After that I remember being in a room on a bed. He was standing over the bed. I started to panic, but I couldn't move. And that's …that's when it happened.

* * *

When she was finished her tears had diminished and she felt lighter. "Thank you for listening." She said while drying her tears. 

Ash smiled and kissed her forehead. "Thank you for telling me."

Misty threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

His head was spinning. He didn't expect her to kiss him like this. _Holy crap! She's kissing me! Not that it hasn't happened before, but why do I fall in love with her even more when she kisses me? God I could stay like this forever._ Ash started to deepen the kiss but stopped and pulled away slowly savoring the moment. He couldn't get her soft warm lips out of his mind he wanted more, but he knew he couldn't he loved her too much. He'd wait; he'd have to wait hell he'd wait forever for her. Misty smiled and snuggled closer into Ash. She fell asleep slowly after.

Ash looked down at her sleeping figured and he grew more determined to help her and her daughter. Ash hugged her tightly and fell asleep with Misty in his arms.

* * *

tbc 

yes incredibly lame and short to the point... but oh well!


	7. Chapter 7

**Love and Babysitting **

**Chapter 7: "So how do you think we go about finding all this out?" –Daisy**

(zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba)

The day was spent packing. They didn't know where they were going to put all of their things when the got to the Pokémon world, but it didn't matter, the needed to be out of here as soon as possible. They got to the airport three hours early not wanting to be late and not wanting to wait forever in the lines for luggage and things like that. Of course it was a good thing they did since Aurora decided to run around on all the escalators and 'I want to wide on de ting when we all the suitcases come down on.'

"_Flight 3653 your plane is now boarding for Pokémon world."_

Misty grabbed Aurora quickly before she could run off to another escalator. "Come on sweetie we need to get going."

Ash laughed as he grabbed their carry-on bags. "Do we have to worry about her running up and down the isles?" He said teasingly.

Misty glared back at him as she walked through the terminal. "No, she better not." She said looking back towards her daughter who smiled sweetly. Misty grinned at her daughter and kissed her noisily on the check. "I love you baby." She whispered in Aurora's ear.

Aurora looked up at her mother with a curious gaze. It confused her to hear Misty say it so seriously. "I love you to mama." She whispered back as she snuggled her way further into Misty's arms.

Ash just smiled at the heart-warming display. His thoughts were interrupted when he was nudged from behind. "Come on, get moving, lover boy." Brock said as he laughed.

Ash nodded and walked to his seat.

After they were safely in the air Ash glanced over at Misty. His smile widened when he saw Misty's arms wrapped around her daughter, the two sleeping peacefully. _They look so carefree. Like nothing in this world can hurt them._ He frowned slightly at his thoughts. _And I'm going to make sure it stays that way._ Throughout the flight all Ash could think about was how he was going to protect two of the most important women in his life, his mom not being one of them at the moment.

"Wow, it's so great to be back here." Misty said once they were out of the plane and in the Pokemon World Airport.

"We haven't even set foot outside and you're saying its great to be back?" Duplica teased. The guys had gone to get their bags as the girls waited for Misty's sister's and Ash's mom to show up.

Misty was about to reply when she was suddenly flat on the ground with a huge weight on top.

"Misty!" Her sisters yelled as they hugged her.

"Daisy, Lily, Violet…Hi." She breathed out. It wasn't exactly the welcome she was expecting, but it was a lot better than the one she was. "Its not that I'm not happy to see you guys, but would you mind letting me up?" Each sister slowly got up and as soon as Misty stood up Daisy was the first to hug Misty.

"We missed you so much baby sis." Misty smiled at her other sisters, they weren't always so nice, and sisters were never really constantly nice anyway. But when they were nice it was great.

"I missed you too." With that Daisy pulled away and the three sisters launched their attack.

"How have you been?"

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"Do you have a job?"

"You should really get a new wardrobe"

Misty rolled her eyes. Nice moments never lasted long. She stood back waiting for the questions to stop, hoping to for all hope that someone would come in and interrupt. She wasn't ready for the searing kiss that someone had just planted on her lips.

She looked up into deep chocolate brown eyes. "Ash" She whispered, her mouth turning up into a smile. What a way to shut her sisters up, that's for sure.

"Thought you could use a little help." He said nodding his head towards her opened mouth sisters. Aurora giggled in his arms.

"Thanks." She breathed out as he handed Aurora to her. All she wanted right now was for him to do that again.

"Who?"

"What?"

"I'm lost."

Misty laughed at her sisters. "Well here's an answer to one of your questions. Violet, Daisy, Lily, this is Ash. Ash, my sisters." Misty said introducing them. She couldn't help but laugh again as the recognition flashed over their features.

"Ash?"

"As in Satoshi…"

"The Pokémon Master?"

She was really getting tired of the three of them talking like that. So she nodded and set the squirming Aurora down.

"Aunt Lily!" Aurora giggled as the reddish brown haired girl picked up the squealing five year-old.

"Hey there sweetie." Lily was always Aurora's favorite. As her three sisters fussed over the small girl Misty looked at the people around her.

"Hey where did Brock and Susie go?"

"Something about getting a cart for all of our stuff, but that was like ten minutes ago." Todd said as he dropped some of their luggage.

Duplica smiled. "Gee, I wonder what they're doing."

"Ash?"

Ash turned around and smiled widely. "Mom."

Mrs. Ketchum crushed her son into a hug. "Ashy! I missed you honey! Have you been taking care of yourself? Did you eat right? Did you change your underwear everyday?"

Ash laughed, embarrassed. "Yeah mom. I'd like you to meet someone." He turned around to see Misty smiling at him and his mother. "Mom, this is my girlfriend Misty. Misty, my mom."

Misty smiled at the girlfriend part and held out her hand. "Hello, Mrs. Ketchum, it's a pleasure to meet you." She wasn't ready for the hug that ensued.

"Hello dear. Call me Delilah. So you're the one that's been taking care of my Ash here." She pulled back and looked sternly at Misty. "You better not hurt him, or you'll have hell to pay." Misty smiled weakly and nodded.

"Mom…" Ash said, even more embarrassed.

"Mommy!" Aurora yelled as she ran into Misty's arm.

Mrs. Ketchum looked at them curiously then back to Ash. She was slightly worried yet happy, a little angry and slightly hurt.

Ash noticed his mothers look and put a hand on her shoulder. "She's not mine mom." When he saw his mom look up at him slightly confused he explained a little more. "Her name's Aurora, she's five. Misty ran into a little…trouble a few years back." Ash said with all seriousness in his voice. Mrs. Ketchum just nodded knowing not to push it.

"Sorry we took so long, we had a little problem getting this thing." Brock said as he walked up with a cart and a disheveled looking Susie behind him.

"Right." Todd said drawing the word out.

"No really! You see we found one and then…" Susie laid a hand on Brock's arm and shook her head, laughing a little.

"Brock, they aren't going to believe you so stop talking and load up."

"But…"

Susie put a finger to his lips and shook her head. Brock hung his head and did as told.

"Man is he whipped." Todd muttered under his breath, forgetting Duplica was standing right next to him.

"I wouldn't be talking, babe, go help him." Susie and Duplica laughed as the two men grumbled and put all their stuff on the cart.

(zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba)

Ash had suggested that they all go to his place to explain a few things. Once they all got there and everything was settled he began explaining their situation.

"So how do you think we go about finding all this out?" Daisy said. No one but her and her sisters messed with Misty. It was hard enough when they had found out what happened all those years back and she wanted revenge. She, being the oldest, looked out for her sisters and Misty was her favorite, even if she didn't let it show.

"Well," Ash trailed off when he heard a knock at the door. Everyone in the room froze. It could be anyone, someone dangerous, someone not. Ash slowly walked towards the door and opened it carefully. He was surprised when a yellow ball of fur knocked him to the ground.

"Pika pi!"

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as he hugged the small yellow electric mouse.

"He sensed you were here and wouldn't wait for me to grab your others. It took a while to catch up to him." An older man said from the doorway.

"Professor Oak!" Ash hugged the man and invited him in.

After a few introductions and an hour of reuniting with some of his Pokémon and filling in the Professor the question was once again asked.

"How are we going to get all this information?" Professor Oak asked.

"I was thinking…" He was once again interrupted by the sound of knocking, this time it came from the back, where the kitchen door was. Growing annoyed he marched to the back and opened the door quickly. "What the hell do…what are you doing here?" He said angrily.

"I wanted to help you."

"You're part of the reason this whole thing happened in the first place."

"That was five years ago, and how was I supposed to know he was going to go out and rape someone?" The women yelled just as angry.

They both didn't notice someone else walk into the room.

"Jessie?"

(zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba)

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

AN: I'm kind of annoyed at the way has changed my document when I put it up... all my 'time change'-ing parts are gone and I hav eto put in their lame line... I like my 's! lol If any of you know how to fix that, please let me know...As it's been like 3+years since I last posted anything on here.

A small warning, There is mention of femslash, f/f, shoujo-ai, lesbianism, whatever you want to call it. It's not a huge thing, honestly, just something I felt like would be a bit different, and at the time this was written, which was years ago, something I wanted to incorprate. I like the diversity it sets, to me anyway lol.

**Love and Babysitting**

**Chapter 8: "It's great to see you again." –Jessie**

* * *

"Misty?" Jessie pushed Ash aside and went up and hugged Misty. "It's great to see you again."

"You too." Misty hugged back, but pulled away when she saw the questioning look on Ash's face. "I don't exactly know what's happened between you two, but Ash, I don't blame her for what happened and you shouldn't either. She definitely had no control over it. Besides, she was the one that helped me out when I needed it."

Ash just nodded. He knew he shouldn't be mad at the taller red head, but he needed to be at someone. They didn't have the best past, but there was something in her eyes that made him nervous. He didn't see quick flash of pain when Misty went over and hugged him. He didn't see her struggle to fight back tears when Misty kissed him lightly on the mouth. He didn't see her heart break once again.

"Come on; let's go tell the other's who's here." Misty said quietly, well aware of the tension in the room.

Once more introductions were made and angry words were bit back Jessie spoke. "I can help you. I know where Gary is and what he's capable of."

"Why? Why are you helping us? What made you decide to come over here and tell us this?" Brock said bitterly while standing in front of her, he remembered all to well the hell she (and James) put Ash and him through when they were younger.

Jessie looked towards Ash and Misty and smiled sadly. "Because I did some stupid shit back then and I want to make it up to you, to prove that I'm sorry, knowing that saying it will never be enough. I hurt both of them and I'm going to make it up to them." She whispered the last quietly so only Brock heard her.

Brock nodded, and the anger in his eyes slightly lessened. "I know already that Misty will be the first to forgive you, she probably already has, but the rest of us won't be so easy."

Jessie just nodded.

"So…what can you tell us?" Violet asked breaking the unwanted tension in the room.

"Not much right now. No one knows I'm here. If Gary or James found out they'd kill me. I knew they were planning something for a while now. I've only got bits and pieces of the information." She laughed a little. "I haven't been able to get James or Gary drunk enough to tell me what's up. I'd like to tell you what I know, but I need to be careful first. For now all I can tell you is none of you, and I mean none of you." She pointed to everyone in the room, including Misty's sisters, Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak. "Should go anywhere alone. And make sure all of you have Pokemon with you at all times. I think, Ash, that you should let them borrow some of yours since they'll need strong ones to protect them. Misty you as well."

"I haven't trained in so long. I don't think my Pokemon are that strong right now."

"Oh don't worry about that sis, we've been training them for you." Lily said quietly as she held a sleeping Aurora in her arms.

"Really?" Misty said a little disbelievingly.

Her sisters just nodded in reply.

"I also suggest that all of you keep Aurora in your sights at all times. If you go into another room, bring her with you. If you go to the restroom bring her with you. When you go to bed, bring her with you. Don't ever leave her alone, even for a second. Gary has men all over the place and you'll never know when they will strike. And when they do, it will be fast and soundless." Jessie said in all seriousness. She stood up and headed for the back door. "I've been here to long, I must go now." She turned to the door and opened it, only to turn around again. "I trust that none of you will mention me to anyone, and I mean anyone. Information leaks easily around here. I'll be in touch, and don't try to contact me, you won't find me." With that she took one last glance at everyone and quickly walked out.

"Well, that was informing." Todd said as silence blanketed the room.

There was nothing anyone else could say. They all needed time for the information to seep in and time, they'd soon find out, was something they didn't have.

* * *

"Mommy?"

"Yes, baby?"

"When can I start t…tr…training Pokémon?"

"Not until you're ten sweetie." Misty smiled sadly as she picked Aurora up and headed towards the backyard. _I don't want to get her hopes up. I don't even know if we're going to stay here or not when this is all over._

"Hey Misty, why don't you come outside? It's a bright and sunny day!" Ash yelled.

Misty put Aurora down and opened the door. She watched her daughter run towards Lily before walking out to Ash and his Pokémon battle with Brock. She slipped her hand through his as he called out a command.

"Bulbasaur, head but!"

"Golem, tackle!" Brock yelled. Misty watched, amazed as the little plant Pokemon took down the giant rock. She knew rock was weak against grass types, but that had to be one tough little Bulbasaur to defeat a fully evolved Geodude.

"Man Ash. Are you ever going to evolve that thing so that it looks like it's actually strong?" Brock called back his defeated Pokémon and slapped Ash on the back.

"Nah, I like to make my opponents think they can win." He smirked. "So Mist, want to get a little training in?"

"Better watch out for this one here. He likes to make you look bad." Brock whispered in her ear.

Misty laughed. "Sure why not."

"Alright! Battle of the sexes!" Brock yelled for everyone to hear.

"Brock!" Ash yelled, slightly embarrassed. Misty just laughed again and walked to the other side of the field as everyone gathered around.

"Go Misty!" Everyone yelled.

"Hey don't I get any support over hear?" Ash asked.

"Go Ass!" Aurora said from Lily's lap. Ash smiled.

"Haha, Ash, you don't need any support." Duplica said as she sat down on Todd's lap.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's start off a little light at first shall we? Go Flareon!"

"Light? And since when did he have a Flareon? Where was I when this happened? And once again, this is his meaning of light?" Brock rambled on.

"Honey, you've been in Japan for years. Ash has been back and forth between the two places. He could have gotten anything. And honey, take it in a joking way here, light and fire. Fire brings in what?" Suzie asked.

"Heat?"

Suzie shook her head. "Light babe, light."

"Oh, but…" Suzie put her finger to his lips and shook her head.

"Just watch."

Misty thought for a moment. "Well, why not battle one evolved Eevee with another? Vaporeon go!" Misty waited for the blue pocket monster to appear before speaking up again. "I bet you think that I think I have this one, don't you?"

"No, as a matter of fact I think that you think that I think you know not to think to underestimate me."

"Well good, because that's what I think."

"I'm confused." Todd said.

"Just watch." Duplica said as her eyes were solely focused on the battlefield in front of her.

"Flareon fire blast!"

"V, agility and then tackle!"

Ash looked on a little surprised as his attack barely scraped the water Pokémon as it hit his Flareon full force. "Hm, it's been a while since anyone hasn't done a direct attack with that one."

"Well, I'm not anyone am I?" Misty smiled, it had been a while, but she still knew what she was doing. "V, skull bash."

"No you're certainly not. Flareon use your own skull bash!" Everyone gasped as the two Pokémon smashed heads and flew back from the impact.

"Nice job Flareon." Ash said as his Pokémon got off and shook its head.

On the other end, Misty's Vaporeon slowly got up. "Hey, V, you alright?" She asked sincerely.

"_Vaporeon!_" It nodded as it stumbled slightly.

"Great."

"Alright Flareon time to finish this, tackle attack!"

Misty smiled. This was just too perfect. "V, you know what to do!"

"Ash just lost." Duplica stated simply.

"What are you talking about? Her Vaporeon looks like it can barely stand." Her fiancée said disbelievingly.

"Like I said before, just watch."

_What is she doing?_ Ash thought to himself as he watched Misty's Vaporeon just stand there while Flareon was running straight at it.

As Flareon hit Vaporeon, the blue Pokémon kicked its hind legs so its counter part went flying in the air. Vaporeon turned it self around, skidded to a halt on the ground and then leapt in the air. As soon as it was level with the Flareon it tackled it, sending it to the ground. As it fell, the water Pokémon opened its mouth a let a large stream of water flow out hitting the fire Pokémon, causing it to hit the ground hard and faint.

"What, but how, I mean…huh?" Todd said dumbly.

Ash nodded. "That's what I want to know."

"Well it's quite simple really. Once Vaporeon was tackled it pushed off of Flareon, since its momentum was moving forward, causing your Pokémon to go the opposite direction, then Flareon did a ground type version of fly, tackled Flareon in the air and then hit it with Hydro Pump. Very efficient, I must say." Misty explained.

"I didn't think it had enough energy left to do that." Ash stated simply.

"Well, you thought wrong didn't you. Don't believe everything your eyes show you." Misty smiled. "It was something I worked on the last time I was here. I never did get a chance to use it in a real battle, didn't think it'd actually work. Great job V." Misted kneeled down and pet her Pokémon.

"Guess I shouldn't be so cocky next time" Ash laughed.

"Mommy, mommy can I play with him?" Aurora ran out of Lily's arms and next to her mother.

"Sure sweetie, just be careful."

Aurora beamed, as the water Pokémon warmed up to her instantly, and went off to play him.

"You need to teach me that one day."

"Hm, maybe, but then I wouldn't have something to beat you with, now would I?" Misty wrapped her arms around Ash's neck and kissed him.

"No, but see, if word gets out that my girlfriend beat me, well it could be trouble." He said joking lightly.

"Well, you're just going to have to find a way to beat me then huh? I'm going to let some of my Pokémon out, why don't you go take yours to Professor Oak?"

Ash smiled and kissed her again. "I was just going to do that. I'll be back."

* * *

Misty sighed happily as she let out her Pokémon. _I guess you have to go through the bad to get to the good._ She looked towards her daughter playing happily with Duplica, Susie and their Pokémon. _Though I guess it wasn't all bad._

"You finally used that move."

Misty looked up at the figure in the tree. "It worked too, all thanks to you."

"No, I just got you thinking of new moves, the rest was your doing." The figure jumped down, landing gracefully on her feet.

"Jessie, it's good to see you again." Misty said as she wrapped the older woman in a hug.

Jessie laughed a little. "I said that yesterday and you agreed."

As Misty moved back she missed the quick flash of disappointment in the blue eyes.

"Mm, yes you did, but we didn't get to talk." Misty glared at the small smirk on the other girls face. "You know what I mean. I missed you."

"I missed you too. I'm sorry I never wrote back, I just, well…I'm sorry." Jessie hung her head, more ashamed than embarrassed, as she felt the wetness on her cheeks.

Misty smiled sadly while she lifted the ex-team rocket's head and whipped away some of the tears. "Hey, let's not bring that up right now." Misty paused, trying to think of something that wouldn't bring up the past, but there was nothing she could think of.

* * *

"Isn't that Jessie?" Lily asked as she looked across the large backyard at the two girls standing under a tree.

"Yeah, it seems to be." Daisy said as she looked at her younger sister. She grinned and nudged her sister. "Stop staring."

"Wha…I was not staring!"

"Uh huh, sure sis, whatever you say." Daisy laughed when Lily continued to stare at the strawberry red haired girl.

* * *

"Your sisters are looking at us." Jessie mumbled as she sat down on the grass next to Misty.

Misty nodded and leaned back on her elbows. "Nah, they're looking at you."

Jessie just looked at Misty, confused.

The carrot-top laughed. "Aw come on, they know beauty when they see it." Misty's laugh stopped abruptly when she saw the pain cross Jessie's face. "Oh god, I'm sorry Jessie, I know, I mean, I didn't…" Jessie cut her off.

"I know, it's just sometimes when you say things like that…" Jessie trailed off.

"I'm sorry." Misty said as they fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence.

* * *

Duplica walked up next to Daisy and sighed. "She's hurting herself by doing this."

"Who, Lily or Jessie?"

"Both, actually. I don't understand them."

"They're scared, scared of rejection, scared of getting hurt again. You know, the usual things to unrequited love." Daisy explained with a slight smirk. "I just hope it doesn't take something disastrous to bring them together."

Duplica laughed. "Oh now you've done it. Someone's going to get seriously hurt now." The two of them laughed and then stopped.

"Ok, so that actually isn't that funny is it?"

"Um, no."

* * *

Daisy walked into the kitchen, throwing away a few cans of soda. She jumped when she saw a figure standing by the sink, staring out the kitchen window. "God, Lily, you sure know how to be quiet when you want to be." She waited for her sisters' response, but when she didn't get one she looked up from her search for more soda. "Lily?" Daisy walked up from behind the blonde and looked out the window. Daisy shook her head sadly. "Lily," She paused not knowing how to form the next words. "You…you want to know what happened don't you?" She stated more than questioned.

Lily glanced back at her eldest sister and nodded, a small frown on her face. "I've talked to her before, when you guys weren't around, I knew you didn't really like her. She's a good friend when she can be there. But she'd never tell me what happened."

"Come on then."

"Where are we going?" The younger girl said softly.

"Upstairs, I don't think we need to let everyone know what happened between them." Lily just nodded and followed her sister upstairs.

Lily sat down on the bed fidgeting slightly. Daisy just sat there for a few minutes, ignoring the uncomfortable silence that seemed to be in the room.

"I'm not exactly sure where or how to start. But when Misty found out that she was pregnant, well you were there, she was scared and ashamed and all those other bad feelings that come along with, with, well you know." Daisy said. She still couldn't believe she couldn't even say what happened to her youngest sister. "That's why she moved out she couldn't deal with us anymore, or she didn't want to, either way she left. She stayed here for a couple months with Duplica sand then they moved out to Japan. That's when she ran into Jessie." Daisy smirked at the small smile that tugged at Lily's lips when she mentioned Jessie.

"It wasn't all peachy keen at first. Misty recognized her from a picture James had and things got off to a rough start. Jessie hated Misty for her being the one James went to after their break-up and Misty was mad at Jessie for it being all her fault. Well at least that's what they wanted to believe anyway. After a while things got better and their friendship grew. They still fought constantly, but it was like a friendly fighting, no harm in it. After a while I think Jessie started to really blame herself for what happened to Misty. She kept thinking that if she hadn't broken things off, then this never would have happened, I think it was at that point Jessie wanted to kill James and then Gary, but Misty told her no."

"Why did Misty stop her?"

Daisy smiled ruefully. "You know Misty, she wouldn't harm a fly, ok well maybe she would but she would never go that far, no matter what happens. Anyway, throughout Misty's pregnancy Jessie was always there, helping, doing what ever she could, she even got a job to help pay for some things. Duplica was with her too, but she couldn't always be there like Jessie.

"I'm not too clear on all the detail, Duplica's the one you want to talk to for those, but I guess along the way Jessie…" Daisy really didn't want to go on; her sister's feelings for the strawberry redhead were painfully obvious. She sighed and continued. "Jessie fell in love with Misty and for months she said nothing. Duplica said she could tell, and Jessie seemed to be slowly going into a depression. She finally cornered Jessie and asked her about it." Daisy chuckled. "After a few small fights Duplica finally got it out of the girl, they were both unaware of Misty standing outside the door and she heard everything. A few days later Misty confronted Jessie. After many minutes of silence Jessie finally confessed what Misty already knew."

* * *

"I…I've…God this is so hard." Jessie took in a shuddering breath and held out her hand to stop Misty's words. "I've fallen in love with you." She whispered, as tears seemed to blur her vision. "And I know, I know you don't feel the same way, but I'm glad I told you because, I don't know, I feel like I've been set free of something, I know it sounds stupid, but it's true. I love you, and sometimes…sometimes it's too much." Jessie couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face, and she didn't want to.

"Jessie…" Misty placed a hand on the other girls' cheek and got Jessie to look up at her. Misty smiled sadly and wiped away some of the tears that continued to fall. "I do love you, just not in that way. I wish I did, you're a great person, funny, smart, talented, you taught me how to take care of myself. It may be hard to believe but I really do wish I could love you like that, you've been great to me, but I can't and I just really wish I did, but there's someone out there for me, I just haven't found whoever it is. There's someone out there for you too. I'm just a small detour it seems." Jessie smiled a little and wiped away her remaining tears.

"That wasn't exactly what I expected from you, but, thanks, I think." Misty pulled Jessie into a hug and just held her as the older girl broke into sobs of pain and rejection, but as well as the joy of not losing a close friend.

* * *

Lily didn't bother to wipe away the stray tear running down her face; she stared at a spot in the carpet as Daisy continued.

"A year later, after making sure Misty could handle her new born daughter and Duplica was there to help out more, Jessie left and Misty didn't hear from her again until now. And it seems as if nothing has changed." Daisy wanted to hit herself in the head for the last sentence. _Stupid, hello! Your sister here is pining over another girl and you go and tell her that girl is still in love with your other sister! Stupid, stupid, stupid…_ Daisy's mental assault stopped when Lily spoke.

"Thanks for telling me." Lily whispered. She slowly got up and started to the door, her hand froze over the doorknob when Daisy spoke up.

"Lily, don't give up hope. Give it some time ok?"

"It's been almost four years! Isn't that long enough?" Lily said angrily and walked out.

Daisy lied back on the bed and let out a frustrated sigh. "Can this get any worse?"

"You did it again. Now someone's going to get hurt and everything's going to get a lot worse. Murphy's law. Maybe you shouldn't speak anymore. Oh and we'll all have a parade! It'll be called the 'Daisy can't talk anymore parade!'"

"Duplica, do me a favor and shut up."

"No can do. Hey you want to take a walk with Misty and Mrs. K?"

"Sure, everything's getting stressful around here; a breath of fresh air would do some good. Is Jessie still here?"

"No, just after you disappeared she needed to go. Said that she shouldn't have been here this long, something about getting her ass kicked." Duplica chuckled at Daisy's shocked expression. "Not literally, you know Jessie, throwing in things she probably shouldn't but she does anyway."

* * *

The three women walked silently down the path through the park. Even though Duplica suggested the walk, she had stayed behind to help with all the Pokémon. Just as Daisy was about to speak something from behind took out her legs.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Violet opened the door and gasped. "Oh my god! What happened to her?" She looked at Daisy who had her arms around Misty and Mrs. Ketchum. Violet moved aside, closed and locked the door once everyone was inside.

"We kicked ass." Daisy stated while laughing. Violet looked as though Daisy had gone mental.

"We were attacked in the park, a Nidoran knocked Daisy over and she twisted her ankle pretty badly. There were two members of whatever organization Gary owns and they attacked us with Pokémon. It was a little tough but we mad it out. Mrs. Ketchum over here kicked some Pokémon butt; I think I know where Ash gets it now." Mrs. Ketchum blushed at the compliment Misty gave her. They heard a knock at the back door and realized who it was.

"Looks like the information has arrived." Brock stated as he came down the stairs with Susie in tow.

Jessie walked in looking a little shaken up. Lily put a hand on her shoulder to help steady the older girl. "Thanks." She turned to face everyone in the room and took a calming breath. "It seems to be a little difficult to get people to not tell on you." Jessie laughed contritely. "We need to be extra careful now, I mean we already were, but now it's eminent. Something's going to happen and it's going to happen soon. I don't know what, but I can't stress enough that you can not go out alone, its best to stay in a group of at least three, no less. I don't want any of you getting hurt." Jessie stumbled a little and glanced back as small arms wrapped around her from the back, steadying her. "Thanks again Lily." Lily just smiled and nodded. Not seeing the knowing exchange between Duplica and Daisy, she continued, "If you don't mind do you think I can crash out here on your couch? I don't think I'll make it to my apartment tonight."

* * *

**Another note!** Yes, another note from yours truly. Way back when this was first posted, someone complained about how I didn't know the rules of Pokemon fighting, and I was just being, to put it bluntly, sexist about the fact that I had Misty win the fight. I'd like to state, that just because Ash is Pokemon Master in my story, does not mean he's all powerful and can beat the $h1t out of every person he battles. If I remember correctly, he did manage to underestimate certain people every now and then. And in a small, meaningless battle such as the one here, I felt it was appropriate. 

Now that I'm done explaining myself! I believe I'm goin to have a couple more chapters than orignally planned. What was going to be the last chapter, has turned out way longer than expected, even if all I have is a basic idea of where to go with it. I'm thinking there will be eleven, maybe twelve chapters. I will be writing somewhat of a sequel to this, but BUT! it will not focus on Ash and Misty, and most likely I'll lose a lot of readers considering who it will focus on P lol But I don't mind cuz everyoen has their...dislikes :D Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll upload the next in a few days time M.W.

TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

**Love and Babysitting**

**Chapter 9: "No, not my baby…no…" –Misty**

**AN:Eh, this part has a mild cursing and 'hints' at f/f stuff but nothing life threatening... lmao P have fun.**

* * *

"Violet let's go!" Misty yelled as she walked out the front door with Lily.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Violet, Lily and Misty were going to the store and they needed to go quickly in order to get back before dark.

Lily was sure the, almost, black clouds in the distance weren't something to look forward to, she almost said something about Duplica's mention of something bad to come, but thought better of it.

"So Misty, do you plan on staying here or going back?" Violet asked as the three sisters were walking on the rather wide dirt path.

"I don't know. I grew up here and yet I feel as if I was in Japan my whole life, like I belong there, but I belong here too..." Misty trailed off not quite sure of what she was saying. They walked in silence the rest of the way.

As they were walking back home they were stopped by a familiar voice.

"Well, well ladies, it seems you have impeccable timing."

"Jessie?" Misty stated in what almost seemed like mock surprise. Jessie gave her an 'I don't want to do this, but I have to look.'

"Yes, my name is Jessie, glad you know it. Now then, as a member of the highly elite Rayquazas, I hope you don't mind, or even if you do, but we're going to attack you now. Arbok go!" As Jessie called out her Pokemon, the two other female members called out their Pokemon.

The three sisters paired off with the Rayquazas, and of course Misty and Jessie were face to face.

"Hey bitch, its payback time." Jessie growled with a raised voice. "I'll get you for taking away my boy toy!"

Lily, who was off to the side, occupied with a woman named Alana, could not but help here what Jessie had said. Her face showed confusion. Jessie was just messing around right? But… Lily's thought stopped when she noticed Alana come straight for her.

"What the hell?" she yelled just before she was knocked to the ground.

"Lily!" Misty yelled before her legs were kicked out from under her. She looked up to see an angry face with apologizing eyes. 'Sorry' Jessie mouthed before she knocked Misty unconscious.

"Girls lets go, we did what we needed!" Jessie yelled as her counterparts took off into the woods. Lily watched Jessie run back, but also saw the tears falling down her face.

"Oh my god Misty!" Violet yelled as she rushed to her little sister's side.

"Why did she do that? Why did she have to do that? She didn't need to go that far damn it! Misty please get up, please." Violet pleaded.

"Violet don't worry. Jessie only did what she had to do, other wise they would have known what was going on."

"I don't care she just, she..." Violet growled in frustration. "Whatever, help me get her up, we need to take her home before anything else happens."

* * *

Daisy opened the door to see her two siblings carrying her youngest sister. "What happened?" She quietly asked, not wanting to alarm anyone else.

"We had a little run in with Rayquazas." Lily stated.

"The what? Isn't that a new Pokemon?"

"Yes, but it also happens to be the name of Gary's group of evil doers." Violet said rolling her eyes.

"Jessie was there." Lily quietly added, glancing at Misty.

"So I can assume that Jessie had to put up a front and attacked Misty?"

Lily nodded. Daisy shook her head. "Let's hope Ash understands." She stepped aside letting the two other girls come in with Misty between them.

"Duplica go get some bandages and ice, some aspirin too. Aurora, come here baby." Daisy motioned for the little girl to come to her. Aurora looked confused not sure why her mommy was sleeping. The cut on Misty's forehead confused her even more.

"Don't worry Ror...your mom just has a little bump on her head." Aurora nodded and went back to the backyard to play with the Pokemon.

Ash came out of the kitchen wondering what all the commotion was about. "What happened? Misty!" He yelled running to her side on the couch.

"Ash calm down, it's nothing serious; she had a run in with Jessie, who was with some of Gary's lackey's." Daisy said while taking the bandages and ice that Duplica had brought her.

"Jessie did this? But why?"

"She had to."

"No she could have just hit her once she didn't need to go this far." Ash said angrily.

Daisy just shook her head and started to clean Misty's cut. Everyone waited until Misty opened her eyes five minutes later.

"Ug, man who knew she could hit that hard."

"Misty are you alright? I can't believe Jessie did this to you..." Ash started to seethe when Misty interrupted him.

"Ash, I'm fine, she did what she had to do. Besides she said she was sorry before she did it. If she hadn't done it, she'd probably be dead or hurt really badly." Misty sat up and winced at the pain that shot through her head.

"Here you go Misty." Brock handed her a glass of water and the aspirin.

"Thanks. Where's Aurora?" She asked after she swallowed the pills.

"She's..." Susie was interrupted when they heard a small scream and numerous sounds of Pokemon.

"Oh no. Please no..." Misty begged as she ran to the backyard. She was surprised at what she saw. Her Vaporeon, Suzie's Vulpix, and Lily's Spheal were lying on the ground badly injured, and no Aurora in sight. Misty bent down to aid her Vaporeon with tears in her eyes. "No..." She whispered. "Not my baby. No..." She sobbed out and held her Vaporeon close to her.

The others came outside, Lily and Susie tended to their Pokemon with tears in their eyes while Ash, Brock and Todd looked for any clue as to where the fiends went. Daisy, Violet and Duplica stood by Misty's side wondering what was going to happen to the little girl they all loved.

* * *

The next morning, meaning for the distressed, infuriated, and worried, was about two in the morning, everyone was sitting in the living room just staring at random spots in the furniture. No one had said anything for 3 hours; Misty had dried tears stained on her face, her red eyes burning. They didn't know what to do. All they could hope for was Jessie, and even then most in the room did not and still do not trust what she's doing. Especially after the attack on three of the four Cerulean Sisters. They all jumped when they heard a loud bang on the front door.

"Holy hell I think my heart just stopped." Brock said before getting up to answer the door.

"Brock wait." Ash said, as he too got up, followed by Todd. The girls waited, they had a feeling as to who it was, who else would come so late at night? They all sighed in what little relief they had felt. That is until they heard two sharp intakes of breath and a "Shit" coming from, who they assumed, Brock. The six women's slouched positions straightened up quickly. Todd walked in the living area first with Brock and Ash behind him, carrying who they could only assume to be Jessie.

"Oh my god..." Lily gaped bringing her hand up to her mouth as the tears formed in her eyes.

The only recognizable feature that Jessie now had was her strawberry red hair.

She had bruises of random sizes running up and down her arms, there were numerous cuts, some deep, and some small on her legs, there were even a few puncture wounds.

Her face was swollen, her left eye closed and swollen to its fullest looking almost completely black. She had a 2 inch cut that ran diagonally from her right brow to her cheek. She looked up at the people around her and then looked directly at Misty. She smiled, and then winced from the pain. "I guess maybe next time I wont try and argue about giving you your daughter back." She croaked out, and that was the last thing they heard from her as she promptly passed out.

Misty, Duplica and Susie quickly moved off the couch as the boys laid Jessie gently on it. Lily practically sprinted towards the cabinet in the kitchen getting the first aid kit. Brock went to the spare room and brought out some Pokemon medicine.

"How's that going to help?" Violet asked, irritation laced in her voice.

"Well, I did some research a while back. The Full Heal we use for Pokemon is kind of like a steroid for humans. It doesn't exactly bring the patient to full recovery but it does make their wounds heal up a little faster than usual." Brock explained. Everyone around him just blinked in a mild disbelief. "What? I was curious."

"I don't think we should give it to her, we don't know the risks involved." Exclaimed Duplica.

"Well nothing really if we don't give her the whole thing, which we shouldn't anyway, she only needs about a sixth of the bottle, besides we need all the help we can get right? And as of now she's the only one with information that we desperately need." Everyone nodded in agreement, though few were hesitant.

As Brock did his thing and Susie bandaged Jessie up as best as she possibly could, everyone could only stand and watch in hopes that the woman before them would be okay. Any doubts of her betraying them had vanished.

Ash and Misty stood by the window out looking the front yard. Ash had his arms around her from behind and they stood like that the rest of the morning, both with thoughts of finding a daughter.

Brock and Todd were sitting on the stairs, leading to the second floor, making some light talk about taking pictures, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong.

Daisy, Violet and Duplica stood in the kitchen opening peering out at the couch where Jessie lay, and Lily right beside it.

Lily sat on the coffee table that was in front of the couch. She leaned over slightly, moving a stray hair from the beaten up girls face. "God, Jessie…why did they do this to you?" she whispered silently. "I never thought someone like you could get hurt so badly, you were always one to take care of yourself. I never did spend a lot of time with you, but enough to know those things." The blonde wiped away a stray tear. "Please wake up soon, we can't…I can't lose you, even if you still love my sister…I…I…" Lily trailed off, shaking her head at her stupidity.

She started to remove the hand that rested on Jessie's cheek, but cold fingers stopped her. Lily glanced down at the soft fingers and followed the arm to Jessie's soft yet beat up face.

"Jessie." Lily whispered in shock.

"Please, don't go…" Jessie croaked out before passing out again.

Lily nodded once and took Jessie's hand in hers and sat there the rest of the morning.

* * *

Misty woke with a start. Something was wrong, what was it? She couldn't remember anything at the moment. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and then it hit her. Her daughter was gone. And the only one who knew where she was, was unconscious and beaten to a pulp. Tears weld up in her eyes but just as quickly as it started it stopped. She grit her teeth and stood up quickly.

"Damn it." She whispered. "You son of a..." Misty stomped off angrily to the kitchen and got herself a small bowl of cereal. She cursed her way through breakfast and once she was done she walked out into the living room. She growled at all the sleeping people. Misty took a deep breath.

"HEY IT'S TIME TO GET YOUR ASSES UP RIGHT NOW!"

Most everyone jumped up with a start with a few mumbled 'what happened, where am I?' Todd mumbled what they could only assume to be, "Go way" Duplica woke him up with her special hidden mallet. Which in turn caused him to scream "I'm up, I'm up, no more please no more!" The only people who had yet to wake were Jessie and Lily.

They looked over towards the couch the girl in question was stirring. The blonde next to her had fallen asleep sitting up. This had them all confused to no end. Lily was sitting, rather slouching on the coffee table with her hand still in Jessie's.

Misty calmed slightly at the sight of the two girls. She sighed and walked over to them. She gently shook Lily awake and then Jessie. Both girls woke up rather slowly and really groggy. Misty ruffled Lily's hair and laughed silently to herself.

"Hey sis." Lily just smiled a little and nodded, trying to fix her hair.

Jessie mumbled and rubbed her head, in turn causing her to wince. "God, I feel like I got run over by a pack of Tauros." She laughed and then started to cough. "Oh wait I kind of did!" She started laughing some more, causing her once again to have a coughing fit.

Everyone just sat and stared at the ex-team rocket member waiting for her to explain herself and tell them what had happened. Jessie sat up with the help of Misty and Lily, wincing along the way. "Let's see..."

* * *

wooo Ok the next part is in the process of being written :) It'd be done, but I left part of it at work XD;;;


	10. And it all comes to an End

**AN: Sorry bout the wait, took me a while to write it all out then type it up ; but here you are, after years of hiatus, the last and final chapter of Love and Babysitting is here. Enjoy :)**

**Love and Babysitting**

**Ch 10: "Trust me."**

(SC)

"At least the nuisance is asleep." James said as he sat back in his chair.

He and Gary were sitting in one of Gary's many conference rooms, making up plans to get their revenge.

"This is perfect. I always wanted to get back at Ash, and this is just gold!"

"What are we going to do with the kid?"

"For now just leave her in that room. When those fools eventually show up we'll have my wonderful new pet locked up in a room with windows. If Ash Ketchum doesn't agree to lose the next tournament to me, then we'll set him loose." He grinned evilly before taking a swig of the bottle in his hand.

"Gary, why don't we just give the kid back? You know how much trouble the can cause. Besides you could always kidnap Misty and do the same thing." Jessie spoke when she walked into the room. She had been listening outside and figured this was the only opportunity she'd get with this maniac.

"Hm, you do have a point." Jessie almost sighed with relief before composing herself again. "I could kidnap the bitch AND keep the brat, two bargaining chips!"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Fellas, take her out back. I knew you were still hung up on that whore, too bad for you that she likes men huh?" James sneered. This was his own revenge; the one he knew would happen. Jessie was to never be trusted, and James and Gary waited patiently for her to slip and she did just that. "Next time I suggest you don't open that big mouth of yours, ever."

Jessie struggled against the men that held her captive. "You won't win Gary. You never will."

(SC)

Jessie sat up slowly, with help from Misty and Lily. She shook her head, trying to clear her jumbled mind. "Well that's what happened." Leaning back, she closed her eyes and sighed. "There's good news and bad news though." Pausing, Jessie took hold of glass of water in Lily's hand and took a small sip. "It's incredibly easy to get by most of the security where Gary's staying; at least the first few floors. The last three, which just happen to be the basement area, are more difficult to get through."

"Where exactly is Gary planning all this?" Suzie questioned from her seat on the floor.

The battered woman grinned, "That idiot set up his little 'company' right between Pallet and Viridian. You'll miss it of course if you go on a straight path to Viridian. This is probably why he thinks he's so hidden. There's no reason to veer from the main path." Jessie stood up, albeit wobbly, shaking her head at the prospect of help from the others. "It looks like an abandoned building, but if you get within twenty feet of that thing, it will take 5 seconds before someone attacks you."

"So then, how do we get in?" Ash asked.

"Unknown to everyone, I'd always planned on there being at least one way in for me, if on the chance that I got kicked out." The red head smirked. "The cave nearby, has an underground area, an extremely dangerous place to be in fact. This is exactly why I chose it."

Getting annoyed, Ash sarcastically said "For…?"

"My secret entrance."

(SC)

Duplica and Lily sat, pouting on the couch. They both had pleaded and begged to go. Ash and the rest of the men, along with Jessie and Misty, had forbid the rest of the group to tag along. Jessie for her part only wanted Ash and Misty for ease of moving around. Later she reluctantly agreed that Brock's Pokemon would undoubtedly be used in their advantage, if not only for distraction purposes.

After the long and grueling arguing the four headed off. The others preparing themselves to come to their aid.

Standing in front of an oversized hole, Ash glanced back at Jessie. "This doesn't exactly look 'secret'."

Jessie, grinning, stopped to look at the opening that loomed over the quartet, towering just below the tree tops, wide enough for two Snorlax's to rest comfortably. "It is not what's on the outside." She laughed and walked into the darkened cave without another word.

Ash looked at Brock curiously, the tanned man just shrugged and started after Jessie. Ash soon followed, Misty close behind, her mind set on only her daughter.

(SC)

"Golem, Rock Throw!" Brock panted as the four ran from the oncoming train of Zubats and Golbats.

"This isn't working!" Ash yelled, calling back his Flareon. They had been walking deeper into the dark dwelling when Ash had stumbled upon a small gathering of the flying creatures. Jessie, knowing first hand the consequences, had shushed the group quickly and motioned for them to hurry out of the way. In their haste, they'd forgotten about being careful, Brock stumbled across a sleeping Kingler, awakening it and causing it to let out a screech that caused panic in the flying pocket monsters. Thus leading them to take off as fast as they could, trying to outrun the mob chasing them.

"I have an idea." Misty stopped suddenly and turned to face the oncoming horde. "Jessie, is there another way out?"

"No, we already passed the real exit. Why?" Her words coming out in a rush, as she watched the live wave coming closer to them.

"What are you two doing!? We need to keep going!" Brock yelled back at them, recalling his golem. He started to pull out his Onyx when Misty stopped him.

"Wait!" Misty glanced at Jessie, before grabbing a Pokeball from her belt. "You better be one-hundred percent sure of yourself that we are going the right way." She grumbled before taking a few more steps toward the raging fury ahead. Taking a shuddering breath, Misty closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the small ball for a split second before tapping the button on it lightly to enlarge it.

Ash started after her, panicked. "Misty!"

"Don't!" She shouted, "Trust me." Ash hesitated, he started after her when Jessie grabbed him and pulled him after her. "Golduck GO!" As the blue duck emerged he glanced back at his master, knowing he could not stop all the oncoming force in front of him. The ex-Gym Leader motioned her Pokemon over to her, bending down a bit to be eye level with him. She whispered into his ear and the water monster nodded, turning once again to the foreseeable doom heading their way.

Ash struggled from Jessie's grip and tried to go after Misty.

"Wait."

"But she's in trouble! We can't jus-"

"No she isn't. Watch." Jessie pointed towards her friend.

"Let's do this quickly Golduck!" Misty yelled. "Psybeam!"

Golduck closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them quickly as a huge beam of light emerged from the jewel on his forehead. The beam hit the wall, continuing in an arced path causing the cave to rumble in protest as giant pieces of rock fell to the ground. His attack continued, the blue partial water Pokemon making it so it caved in completely.

As the remaining part of the ceiling tumbled to the ground around Golduck, Misty called him back just as a large boulder smashed down, just inches from where he had just been. Tucking the ball safely onto her belt, Misty jogged back to the three waiting for her.

"You could have just said you were going to cause a cave-in." Brock nudged the slightly shaken girl in jest.

"If I had, would you two have honestly let me do it, or do it yourselves?" She replied somewhat icily.

Feeling somewhat chastised, Brock shrugged and looked over at Ash as they followed behind the irate woman.

"That's what I thought. Some of my Pokemon, if you recall," Misty said sarcastically, "have psychic abilities. They were the only ones who could have caused that mess of rocks and help keep the damn mob we had chasing us at bay if needed." Her voice held a tone of finality and Brock just nodded his understanding.

(SC)

It had grown colder, the four of them rubbing their hands up and down their arms every so often to get some sort of heat. The tunnels grew narrow and the ceiling came down some, enough to where no one could stand up completely straight. Every now and then they would come across a small wide opened room, but continue on, not paying attention to the dripping of water around them or the cold eerie sounds of creatures they weren't to sure about.

Jessie stopped suddenly causing Ash to bump into her. "What did you stop for?" His annoyance carried through the cave.

Jessie glared at him and shushed the Pokemon master as she pressed an ear to the cold, jagged rock covered cavern wall.

"What are you listening for?" Came the whispered voice of Brock.

"Water." She stated, as if it were obvious.

"Couldn't you have just marked it?" Ash said. His patience had worn thin from all the walking. Misty shook her head at their questions. All she wanted was to find her daughter and do it quickly, in fear that waiting longer could possibly cause harm to come to her daughter, if it hadn't already. She grew impatient as Jessie fumbled around, searching for something, growing agitated at the questions thrown her way.

"Why would I mark a _secret_?" Annoyed, Jessie punched a barely noticeable just of rock that rested slightly above her eye level. There was a groan and a small rumbling as the wall parted slightly for them, a small ledge and a stream of water became visible. "Come on, it isn't much farther." They continued on, trudging in the water, shortly arriving at a small, nature made stairway.

Jessie made her way up the short stairway and laid her hand on the small knob that rested off to the side. Putting a finger to her lips for silence, she slowly pushed the knob in, watching as a small opening appeared in front of them. Sticking her head out, looking for any signs of life, she gestured the three behind her to slowly follow her. They followed her closely, not knowing where they were going, unable to see through the pitch blackness that seemed to loom around them. The red head stopped sometime later and turned to the group.

"If everything is still the same your daughter should be close. We need to be extremely careful. There are a few things Gary has been," she paused, searching for words. "Experimenting with, things no one should ever think about." She put her hand up, stopping Misty from speaking, the panic evident in her eyes. "Just be on guard."

Turning the corner Misty let out a muffled gasp. Through a clear window she could see her daughter sleeping peacefully, just out of reach from a ravage Pokemon; at least she thought it was a Pokémon. The giant beast stood, slightly hunched, on its hind legs. Its skin partly covered in coarse fur was a dark crimson with black stripes donning its back. The tail, bushy and thick was a pale purple. It had a snout like a dog with horns running from the bridge of its nose, down its back, stopping just before the tail. The over grown teeth were sticking out in all directions, lathered with saliva. The hideous creature struggled against its remaining bindings around its neck and hind legs. The two that had previously been attached to its front legs lay in pieces on the ground.

"Well, well, well. Finally decided to show up I see." Gary appeared from the darkness of the halls. Misty turned, enraged at the man.

"Gary!" She roared as she started after him.

"Uh, uh, uh." Gary tsked and pointed to his left. Jessie and Brock were struggling against Gary's goons, they're warnings muffled by the gags over their mouths.

"Gary, let them go!" Ash yelled as he grabbed a pokéball from his belt.

Laughing, he responded, "Why? I need someone to test out my new Pokémon." He sneered, waving his hand towards his men. They opened up the door leading to the room Aurora was in, tossed the two inside and bolted the door.

"Th...that's a Pokémon!?" Misty stuttered out. Panic had set in as her innocent daughter slept, oblivious to the danger around her. It was a relief, yet at the same time it terrified her, not knowing if there was something wrong with Aurora.

The grin on Gary's face made Ash and Misty step back. "Oh yes, but it's actually two Pokémon. You see, spending time in this secret are with my Gramps' technology easily attainable, I decided to experiment." He turned towards the cage, Brock and Jessie stood in front of the small girl, protecting her from the rabid beast. "Satoshi, Kasumi, and yes I know your given name, I'd like you to meet my Arcanine and Nidoking." He grinned evilly, "Arcnido! Fire Whip!" Confusion at this attack clouded everyone's mind, the tail of the combined Pokémon twirled in fast circles, glowing once it got fast enough, causing enough friction that it lit on fire. Roaring loudly the Arcnido twisted its body, whipping its tail towards the three defenseless people, setting a whip of fire at them.

Brock, quickly getting over his shock of what was in front of him, called out his Zubat, "Used gust and steer it clear!" Zubat managed to do so, but the two adults could feel the scorching sting of the fire. Jessie called out Arbok, helping Brock keep the beast at bay.

Gary turned and stared at the battle ready Ash. "A rematch, just what I wanted. Too bad I can't use him." Not needing to be told that 'He' was the Arcnido, Ash pushed the button on the Pokéball to enlarge it.

"If I win you let them go."

Gary shrugged and pulled out his own ball. "Sure." Gary called out his second Arcanine while Ash called out a relieved Pikachu.

"Sorry my friend." He whispered to the yellow electric mouse. Pikachu nuzzled his cheek in understanding before putting on a braze face and prepared for battle.

Misty watched in horror as Jessie and Brock's Pokémon, and themselves, started to wear down. The two humans were getting the brunt end of attacks that slipped through their Pokémon, trying to save the small girl behind them from any injury.

"No." Whimpered Misty when she saw Aurora start to stir.

"Mommy?" The child said groggily when she sat up, her eyes blurry with sleep.

"Aurora, sweetie, come here!" Misty shouted frantically, seeing the Arcnido had stopped short when he noticed the little girl had stirred. It took off, barreling towards the child, just as Brock ran towards Aurora as well.

Aurora, not quite awake, teared up. "Mommy?" she whimpered when she heard a high pitched scream that resembled her own name. She let out a startled cry of pain when she was roughly shoved aside into Jessie just before Brock was rammed into the wall by Arcnido.

As Misty frantically tried to formulate a plan to help her friends and child Gary and Ash were near the end of their battle. But unlike the Pokémon tournament, Ash's Pikachu was strong and still agile, while Gary's Arcanine was sluggish and hurt. Ash felt confident in his victory and could see Gary knew as well. That is, until Gary stopped all together.

"Giving up?" Ash questioned, leery of the man's actions.

"No, just biding my time."

"For what?"

"This." Came a voice from behind. Ash turned to look, but was cut short by the two by four that came crashing down on the side of his skull.

James appeared from the shadows, dropping the piece of wood next to the unconscious figure. "Let's go." He said quickly to Gary, and the two took off down the darkened halls.

After she calmed slightly, Misty called out her Golduck and had him use his Telekinetic powers to rip the door open. Golduck then held the Arcnido in place as Misty ran in to pick up her crying daughter as Jessie quickly half carried half dragged, a seriously injured, Brock out of the room. The blue Pokémon struggled to keep the experiment in place as he blocked off the door before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.

"Thank you, my friend." Misty whispered affectionately before calling him back. They all jumped when they heard a horrific roar and a loud crash in the room they were just in. Tensing, in fear that the Arcnido was after them, they all held their breath. After a few seconds of quiet the let out a sigh of relief.

Ash, finally awake, staggered to a standing position and before Misty could stop him, he took off after James and Gary. Blindly running, Ash ended up a few floors down where he saw the two men trying to escape into dimly lit passageways.

"Gary!" He shouted angrily.

"The only way you're going to get rid of us, is by killing us." The man stated simply. "And quite frankly, _Satoshi_," the name came out in a sneer, "I know you won't, but I, on the other hand, would do something exactly so." Gary pulled out a small handgun from his inside jacket pocket and pointed it at Ash.

Before Ash could utter a sound a loud crash drew their attention.

Charging angrily towards Gary and James was an enraged Arcnido. Panicking, Gary fired off three shots, all on target. Much to his chagrin the bullets only made the beast angrier. With a deafening roar the Arcnido charged faster. Ash, knowing he could not stop it, turned with a heavy sigh and walked away, trying to drown out the ear piercing screams and the sickening cracks that followed.

When he returned to the group, he helped Jessie carry Brock while Misty and her daughter clung to each other. Ash ruffled the child's hair affectionately before heading out.

"What happened?" Jessie asked.

"They got what they deserved."

"Ash..." Misty trailed off, worried.

"It was his Pokémon." Ash shook his head, "How could he do that? Pokémon are real, living creatures, they have feelings! Why would anyone want to do something so disturbing and wrong!?" He shouted angrily, knowing he would not get the answers.

Deciding it best, the three watched as the medium building fell to the ground with the aid of Pokémon and an Officer Jenny.

(SC)

Epilogue:

Brock was in the hospital for three weeks recovering from his injuries. When he was released, he and Susie returned to Japan and started looking for their own place to live.

Duplica and Todd married a few weeks after Brocks release. They now live in the cabin Duplica still owns in the Pokeworld, and started a Pokémon Photo Studio.

Misty's sisters, Daisy and Violet, left the Gym to start their own Pokémon journey.

"To meet cute guys." Violet stated before they left.

"And we're tired of staying here." Daisy murmured, needing a new change of scenery.

Lily stayed behind to help Misty and Jessie run the newly 're-vamped' Cerulean Gym.

Misty gave Aurora her first Pokémon, as a "pet", a small 5 week old Eevee. Stating that when she was old enough for her own Pokémon journey, that her Pokémon would be perfect because she had a wide variety to choose if or when Aurora wanted to evolve him.

As for Ash and Misty...

"Hey Misty?"

"Yes?" Misty was bathing her Pokémon after a long rough day of Gym battles.

"Well," Ash shifted nervously, "I was wondering if maybe, I dunno, you and Aurora, would like too..." He cleared his throat, and fidgeted.

"Like to...?" Misty prompted, standing up and drying her hands.

"Like to move in with me? And then maybe one day, be a family?"

Misty grinned. "We'd love to move in with you Ash. And yes, I will readily marry you when you get the nerve to ask me." She kissed him; Ash's only response was a slack-jawed, shocked expression. Giggling, she kissed his nose. "Which better be soon." Trying to sound serious, but her grin said other wise.

"Uh..." Ash stated dumbly.

"I love you." She whispered before kissing him again, this time taking her time and savoring his warmth. Pulling away wit ha goofy grin on her face, one that matched the grin on Ash's face.

"I love you too, Misty."

**The End.**

Well there you have it. I finally finished it. Thanks to those old and new for your reviews. Unless random ideas come to me, this is probably my last Pokemon fic for a long while if not, for good. Take care and review if you feel the need :)

MW


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